Episode I: Remus Lupin and the Curse of Secrets
by Rotae
Summary: Before the Dark Days. MWPP First Year. Follow the journey of an ordinary young man, with a not so ordinary furry little problem, through his first year at Hogwarts. Please Read & Review.
1. Chapter 1

**Before the Dark Days**

**Episode I: Remus Lupin and the Curse of Secrets**

A Marauders Fan-Fiction by Rotae

Contributors: Rach-The-Trollop and Medusa  
My _wonderful_ beta: AmberPalette

_Disclaimer: I don't own any rights to Harry Potter. In this fan fiction you will find descriptions taken directly from all six Harry Potter books, this is because I want to make this story as canon as possible, and what better descriptions than those written by J.K Rowling. You will also find quotes from: Blackadder, Monty Python, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Charmed and Absolutely Fabulous, I don't own the rights to them either. _

_For J.K. Rowling,  
your imagination, humour  
and hard work inspire me._

prej·u·dice n

1. a preformed opinion, usually an unfavourable one, based on insufficient knowledge, irrational feelings, or inaccurate stereotypes

2. the holding of opinions that are formed beforehand on the basis of insufficient knowledge

3. an unfounded hatred, fear, or mistrust of a person or group, especially one of a particular religion, ethnicity, nationality, or social status

4. disadvantage or harm caused to somebody or something

vt

1. to make somebody form an opinion about somebody or something in advance, especially an irrational one, based on insufficient knowledge

2. to cause harm or disadvantage to somebody or something

**Chapter I: The Unexpected Voice**

The smell of freshly baked biscuits wafted up towards the bedroom door of an eleven-year-old boy. The boy sleepily opened his eyes, and sniffed the air. _Chocolate._ He inhaled once more, closing his eyes and letting the glorious smell wash through his body. Sighing, he opened his eyes again, and looked at the small clock, placed on the bedside table in his neat and tidy room. It was nine fifteen, on a Saturday morning. He stifled a yawn as he slowly sat up in his bed, pushed down his doona and let his legs dangle over the right side of his bed. He bent down and placed his slippers on his small feet. The boy walked over to his window and pulled back the curtains. The sun washed over his pale skin and warmed him to the bone. He closed his eyes and imagined the sun smiling at him. He loved the sun.

He tied back the curtains, gathered his clothes for the day, and walked out of his bedroom and down the hallway to the bathroom. He would have loved to have run down the stairs and eaten some of his mother's fabulous biscuits, but he knew that she wouldn't let him have one until he'd eaten his breakfast anyway. He stopped in front of the closed door, and sniffed the air. He could still smell his mother's biscuits, but he could also smell something else: his brother. He could smell his brother from the other side of the door. He carefully knocked.

'Romulus, are you almost finished?' the boy inquired. The door opened and Romulus stood in the doorway, smiling at his younger brother.

'Yep,' he replied, and as he walked past his brother he ruffled his hair. 'All yours,' he added as he started to walk down the stairs, and into the kitchen. Romulus Lupin was four years older than his brother. He attended Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, and in just over a month he would be going back to the school to start his fifth year. He had deep blue eyes, like his father Faustulus, light brown hair, like his mother Ameli, and he shared the warm smile that the Lupin family seemed to inherit in every generation. As he disappeared down the stairs, his brother wondered for a moment what it would be like to be Romulus: go to Hogwarts, have friends, play Quidditch and not be a freak.

The boy walked into the bathroom and shut the door carefully so that he wouldn't slam it. Sometimes he didn't know his own strength. He placed his clothes on the chair in the bathroom and looked at himself in the mirror. He did look rather like his brother, the exception being he didn't have either of his parent's eyes. He had gold eyes, with dark brown rims. He was paler than his brother too, and slighter than his brother was at his age. The boy washed, stepped out of the shower and walked over to the basin. He prepared some shaving cream, brushed it over his face, picked up his razor and started to glide "Shannon and Shanley's Magical Shaver" over his young face. The boy had been shaving for about four and a half years now, and was quite used to it. He finished, washed his face and got dressed, tidying up as he went. He opened the door to the room and quietly walked back towards his bedroom. He placed his pyjamas under his pillow, his slippers on the right side of his bed and eagerly walked down towards the kitchen. As he started down the stairs he could hear his mother, father and brother talking. But there was also another voice that he hadn't heard before, an older man's voice. Intrigued, he quietly walked down the stairs, along the hallway and carefully opened the door to the kitchen, where he had heard the voices coming from. He poked his head around the door as to inquire who the unknown man was.

The man looked tall, thin and very old, the boy judged by the silver of his hair and beard, which were both long enough to tuck into his belt. He was wearing long robes and high-heeled buckled boots. His blue eyes were light, bright and sparkling behind half-moon spectacles and his nose was very long and crooked, as though it had been broken at least twice. The boy recognised this man as Albus Dumbledore, his older brother's Headmaster at Hogwarts. He'd seen his picture once or twice in the _Daily Prophet_, and the boy owned at least seven of his chocolate frog cards. Dumbledore's head turned immediately at the sound of door opening. He looked kindly at the boy, and spoke in a soothing voice.

'Ah, Remus.' He smiled. 'Why don't you come and sit down here with me,' he continued, motioning to the chair beside him at the kitchen table.

Remus wasn't sure what to make of all this. He looked to his mother and father. His father looked apprehensive and his mother looked quite shocked. His brother was sitting down opposite Dumbledore and had a slice of toast in his hand, looking as though he thought the headmaster were extremely mad.

Remus slowly entered the room and shut the door behind him. He walked over to the seat next to Dumbledore and sat looking intently at the Professor who had just taken a chocolate chip biscuit from the plate in the middle of the table. The Headmaster took a bite and beamed in satisfaction.

'You're biscuits are still perfection, Ameli,' he said sincerely to Remus' mother, who was still looking shocked.

'Merci beaucoup,' she replied, finally coming to her senses. Her brown eyes flicked from the Headmaster to her youngest son. 'Remuz, Professor Dumbledore 'as come to speak wiz you about something,' she said, gestured to the man Remus was sitting next to.

Remus was taken aback. Why would the Headmaster of Hogwarts want to talk to _him_? Remus looked at the Headmaster intently, waiting to hear what he had to say. Dumbledore placed the half eaten biscuit on his plate and looked at Remus thoughtfully.

'Tell me Remus,' he started. 'What do you think of Hogwarts?'

Remus wasn't really sure what to say first.

'I think it's brilliant,' he replied honestly. 'I love hearing Romulus tell me stories about Hogwarts and the people there. It sounds like a wonderful place… but I know that I can't attend,' he added hastily. He didn't want the Professor Dumbledore to think for one minute that he had even contemplated the idea of being able to attend when he knew that he never could.

'But,' Dumbledore continued. 'You would like to attend Hogwarts if given the opportunity?'

'Oh yes sir, without a doubt.'

Dumbledore leaned back in his chair and looked thoughtfully at the young boy in front of him.

'What would you say if I told you that I am going to give you the opportunity to attend Hogwarts for the next seven years of you life?'

Remus was astounded. Was the Headmaster really offering him a place at the school? Why? He had always been told that he couldn't go to Hogwarts. What had changed? He suddenly knew why his parents and brother were looking shocked. After a few long seconds, Remus finally got a grip on himself. There were a lot of questions he wanted answering!

'But I'm not allowed to go to school!' he exclaimed. 'I'm not even allowed to have a wand!'

'That can all be arranged,' Dumbledore said smiling at the youngster. 'People such as yourself are allowed to have wands, provided that they receive proper wizard training. Something that, I think we can provide for you,' he paused and looked directly at Remus. 'Believe me Mr. Lupin, I have thought about this long and hard. There is absolutely no reason as to why you cannot attend Hogwarts like any other regular student. You have definite magical talent Remus; I understand that you have made quite a few things happen around the house without the aid of a wand already. We have the facilities that your situation requires and we are quite equipped to deal with any problems that may arise. All we need is your approval and my plan can go ahead.'

Remus felt an extreme urge to give the Headmaster the biggest hug he had ever given anyone, but a nagging feeling arose in the back of his mind.

'Headmaster, what about the other children at Hogwarts? Won't they realise that I go somewhere once a month? And where am I going to go? I can't stay at Hogwarts for my transformations obviously. What about the silver cutlery, won't people notice that I use something different?' Remus was starting to panic; there were so many questions, with no answers that he could think of. There were so many things that could go wrong.

'Remus, calm down,' Dumbledore said soothingly as he placed a hand slowly on Remus' shoulder. Remus jumped a little; he wasn't used to people touching him other than his family. Most people who knew about his lycanthropy thought that if they touched him he'd infect them. Apparently not Professor Dumbledore. 'We have everything worked out. Everything you need to know is in this letter,' he continued as he handed Remus a letter with his name on it. 'Everything except perhaps the cutlery question,' he chuckled. 'I hadn't thought that you'd ask that one. But yes, we have done something about that. We no longer have silver cutlery or taps in the bathrooms. They are all gold, so there is no need to worry. Personally, I prefer gold, so everything works out quite nicely.' Professor Dumbledore smiled kindly.

Remus looked down at the letter in his hand, and then up at Professor Dumbledore's smiling face.

Remus smiled back. For the first time in a very long time, he actually let himself think that he could, and _would_ be going to Hogwarts.

'Now, if you'll excuse me,' Dumbledore said as he stood up, taking the rest of the biscuit with him. 'I have one or two more things that I have to attend to before returning to Hogwarts. Thank you for your hospitality, I hope to see Romulus and Remus on the first of September. Please, feel free to owl me with any questions any of you might have.'

'Thank you very much,' Faustulus said as he held out a hand and shook Dumbledore's. 'We'll be in contact.'

Dumbledore smiled at the Lupin family and Apparated out of the kitchen.

Ameli looked at her husband. 'Well, fanzy that,' she concluded.

Romulus still looked like a stunned fish with the toast halfway up to his open mouth.

Faustulus was shaking his head in disbelief.

Remus was looking down at the letter in his hand. He opened it carefully and began to read:

_Dear Mr. Lupin,_

_We are pleased to inform you…_

_

* * *

_Please Read & Review.

Next Chapter: **Chapter II: The Journey from Platform Nine and Three Quarters**  
Remus says 'goodbye' to his parents and 'hello' to the brave new world of friends and Hogwarts. Although they mightn't be the friends you think they will be...

Peace,  
Rotae


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter II: The Journey from Platform Nine and Three Quarters**

A scarlet steam engine was waiting next to a platform packed with people. A sign overhead said _Hogwarts Express, 11 o'clock._ Remus looked behind him and saw a wrought iron archway where the ticket box had been, with the words _Platform Nine and Three Quarters _on it. His father appeared behind him, smiling broadly as he looked up towards the gleaming Hogwarts Express.

'Hasn't changed,' his father said brightly.

'Come on you two,' Romulus said over his shoulder as he picked up his trunk and started to move off towards his friends who were waiting for him.

Faustulus looked down at Remus and spoke. 'So Remus, what do you think?'

'It's incredible.'

Smoke from the engine drifted over the heads of the chattering crowd, while cats of every colour wound here and there between their legs. Owls hooted to each other in a disgruntled sort of way over the babble and the scraping of heavy trunks.

'I'm going to go and see Romulus off. If you want to go and find a seat to sit in, I'll be with you in about five minutes, okay?'

'Okay.'

His father walked to where Romulus was standing with his friends, who were laughing at something Romulus' friend Annie had just said. Remus could hear them fairly well, despite the background noise.

'So, then he says, "Mum, I'm going in the garden!"' Romulus and his friends gave another whoop of laughter. Remus could see that Michael was wiping tears from his eyes.

Taking his father's advice, Remus started towards the train, looking in the windows for free compartments, or at least, one with first-years in it. The first few carriages were already packed with students, some hanging out of the window to talk to their families, some fighting over seats. Remus pushed his trolley off down the platform in search of an empty seat. He passed a round-faced boy who was saying, 'I've lost my quill again.'

'Oh, Peter,' he heard the women sigh.

Remus pressed on through the crowd until he found an empty compartment near the end of the train. He moved his trunk towards the train door, and lifted it up the stairs with ease. He probably should have gotten his father to do it, but he was busy talking to Romulus about the responsibilities of being a prefect. Remus didn't have trouble with the weight, although certainly other boys of his age and build could not have lifted it at all. He moved his trunk into a compartment and put it in the baggage rack.

As he sat down, he looked out the window, to see if his father had come to say goodbye to him yet. Remus sighed; he could see his father, halfway up the platform still talking to Romulus and his two friends. Gazing along the rest of the platform Remus could see all manner of different people. People of different ages, sizes and colours milled about on the strip. But they all had two things in common: they were all wizards or witches, and they were all saying goodbye.

Remus was quite content watching the different people when he heard a loud clunk come from the outside of the compartment.

Looking through the window at the door he had just come through, he saw a girl, about his age, with thick curly blonde hair trying to pull her trunk up the stairs. She was giving it a very good go, but Remus could see that there was no way she was going to get _that_ trunk, up_ those_ stairs, anytime soon. He watched her, conflicted as to whether he should help. He'd never been very good at making friends, in fact he found it terrifying, but she needed help, and he knew that he could help her. After all, he had done it himself, just moments ago.

The girl looked over her shoulder, and Remus saw two adults talking to another girl about his age, who had very short, spiky brown hair. They seemed to be giving the girl instructions, and the girl was nodding.

_Probably a Muggle-born, _Remus thought to himself. He looked back at the girl who was still trying to get her trunk up the stairs; every now and then she looked back towards the two adults with a look of hope that they might take some notice of her. Remus got up and went out to the door.

The girl was standing there; looking slightly flushed as she finally gave up and flopped down on her case, her back to the train. She sighed dramatically. Remus could see the initials E. P on the side of the trunk.

'Do you need a hand?' he asked timidly from behind her. The girl whipped around to face him. Remus felt a funny feeling in the pit of his stomach. _So this is what meeting people is like. Scary,_ he thought dryly and he tried to suppress the feeling of butterflies in his stomach. The girl's face broke into a wide grin. She was very pretty. Remus suddenly became even more nervous than he already was.

'I thought no one was going to help!' she exclaimed happily. 'I was afraid I was going to be stuck here for eternity and miss the train.' Remus smiled at her obvious dramatic nature. 'My parents aren't doing their jobs very well at the moment,' she continued. 'They keep instructing my friend Sam about everything magical, and not helping us with the important things, like trunks!' She laughed. Remus had the feeling that he had a very stupid grin on his face, and had no idea why he was reacting like this. He walked down the stairs and came to a rest in front of the girl.

'Elizabeth Palmer.' She held out her hand.

'Remus Lupin,' he replied, taking her hand and smiling back at his new friend. Remus took Elizabeth's trunk by the handle, and pulled it onto the first stair. Elizabeth raised her eyebrows.

'Wow. You're strong,' she commented lightly. Remus blushed. He hadn't meant to make it seem so easy for him. He muttered something about eating his vegetables, and moved her trunk up the rest of the stairs.

'Is this your friend's trunk?' he asked, pointing towards the trunk that was resting next to where Elizabeth's had been. It had the initials S. W on it.

'Yeah.'

'Do you want me to bring that one up too?'

'If you can manage it, that'd be great!'

'Okay.' Remus walked back down the stairs and took that case up too.

'Thanks,' Elizabeth said, looking quite surprised at Remus. He could almost hear her thinking at how amazed she was that he could even lift her trunk a little. 'Do you mind if we sit with you?' she asked politely, again flashing Remus a big smile.

'No, no you're right,' he replied as he pulled her friends trunk into the compartment he had previously been sitting in and hoisting it up next to his own. 'I wasn't sitting with anyone anyway. My brother will probably sit in the prefect's compartment, so, it'll be nice to have some company.'

'What year is your brother in?' Elizabeth asked, pulling her own trunk into the compartment, and helping Remus lift it up next to the two trunks that were already there.

'Fifth. He's a Ravenclaw prefect.'

'Cool. Oh, my Mum is waving at me. I'm just going to go and say goodbye. I'll be back in a second.'

She walked out of the door, and left Remus to feel very unsettled. He knew that meeting new people was an experience in itself, but he couldn't help but feel that this was no ordinary meeting. Perhaps they would be in the same house. She seemed very nice.

Remus had no idea as to which house he would be placed. His brother, obviously, was a Ravenclaw, but his father, now a Healer, was a Slytherin when he was at Hogwarts. Remus had the feeling that he would end up in Slytherin like his father, because he was classified as a 'dark creature', and Slytherin had a reputation for turning out the darkest wizards of the four houses. They got a bad wrap, in Remus' opinion. His father turned out all right. A lot of ambition and motivation were required if one wanted to be a Healer. The problem, in the Lupin's opinion, arose when ambitions were put towards the wrong goals. Put towards the _right_ goals however, ambition was a very powerful ally.

There was a knock on the window. Remus looked up and saw his father gesturing to the door. Remus got up and hastily walked out the door and down the stairs where Faustulus was waiting for him.

'Now, are you all set? Got everything? Prepared? Not scared?'

'Maybe not the last one,' Remus admitted.

'Yes, maybe not,' Faustulus placed his hands on Remus' shoulders, and he bent down so that their eyes were on a level. 'You are a very bright boy Remus, and I'm very proud of you, you know that don't you?'

Remus nodded. It might have been his imagination, but his father seemed to have tears in his eyes.

'Now, what you've got to remember is this; it is a privilege to go to Hogwarts, and we're very lucky that Professor Dumbledore has invited you to come, so you do everything he tells you okay?'

'Yes Dad, of course.'

There was a pause, and Faustulus pulled Remus into bone crushing hug.

'I love you Remus. I love you so very much.'

'I love you too Dad.' He was finally released from his father's firm hug, and Remus looked back at his father, who now indeed, had tears in his eyes.

'Now, the main thing to remember Remus is to have fun, and to make lots of new friends to tell your Mum and me about.'

'Well, I think I have already actually…'

'Really?'

'I think so.' Remus looked around for his new friend. She was standing, still talking to her parents. 'That's her over there,' he said as he pointed towards her.

'Oh. Do you have a girlfriend Remus?' his father chuckled slightly.

'No, don't be silly.'

'Just checking.' He looked at his watch. 'You'd better be off Remus; you don't want to miss the train.'

'Okay, I'll see you at Christmas.'

'Don't forget to write to us and tell us what's happening in your life okay?'

'Sure.'

Faustulus gave Remus one final hug and Remus then turned to get back on the train. He climbed the stairs and sat back down in his seat. He could see his father standing out on the platform grinning and waving to him. A whistle blew loudly and people started hugging and kissing, and rushing back onto the train.

After a few seconds, the train gave a lurch, and sprang to life, sending Remus back into his seat a little. He looked out the window and waved at his father, until the train left the station, and moved into a dark tunnel.

The compartment door opened slightly and a tawny haired boy stuck his head in, looking at Remus with nervous brown eyes.

'Ah – er – is thair 'ny room in this heer compartment?' he asked.

'Yeah, there's room for one more for sure,' Remus replied.

The boy opened the door and dragged his trunk into the room. Remus jumped up to help him put it in the remaining space. Together they did it easily.

'Ta for tha,' the boy added.

'Not a problem.'

The two boys shook hands and smiled at each other before sitting down opposite each other.

'Ah'm Kevin Dunstable. Ah'm from Crieff in Scotland.'

'Remus Lupin – er Hexworthy in England.'

'Whair's tha?'

'Er… sort of near Plymouth, it's in Dartmoor Forest.'

Just before Kevin was about to reply, the compartment door opened forcefully, and two girls entered, giggling slightly. One, Remus already knew, the other, had to be her friend.

'Oh, I see we have another person to meet!' Elizabeth exclaimed, shutting the door behind Sam. She walked over to Kevin and held out a hand. 'I'm Elizabeth Palmer, and this is my best friend, Samantha Williams, but if you call her anything other than Sam, she'll bash you up,' she gestured to the girl behind her.

'Kevin Dunstable. Ah'm from Crieff in Scotland. N this is Remus Lupin, he's from Plymouth.'

'Yes, we've already met haven't we Remus?' She flopped down in the seat next to him, and Sam did the same next to Kevin. 'Is Plymouth nice?'

'Um, well, yes, but I'm actually from Hexworthy. It's _near_ Plymouth.'

'Oh, okay. Well, Sam and I are from Surrey, aren't we Sam?'

Sam merely nodded.

'You'll have to excuse my friend,' Elizabeth continued. 'She's finding this all a bit daunting. I think that we should tell her she's a witch everyday. Normally she never shuts up!'

'I do so!'

'Ah, see, I knew it couldn't last for long.' She turned and grinned at Remus, who couldn't help but smile. 'Chocolate frog?' Elizabeth asked as she pulled one out of her pocket.

'Sure.'

The group continued talking and laughing for the next hour and a half. They discussed everything from Muggle pop-culture ('I _so_ want to see Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory,' said Sam), to Quidditch ('I hope the Hollyhead Harpies do really well this season,' exclaimed Elizabeth), to their families ('Ah goot too sisters n a bruther, sept ee's alreddy left,' explained Kevin, and Remus was finding it difficult to keep up with his fast talking and strong accent), to what house they would like to be in.

'I don't know much about any, so I don't really care,' Sam was saying as a dimpled woman opened the carriage door and asked if they wanted anything off a food trolley. As they ate their lovely sweets they continued their conversation about the houses.

'Ah whant to be in Hufflepuff,' said Kevin before taking another bite of his pumpkin pasty. 'Memah n da werinit.' His full mouth was making it even harder to understand his accent.

'Pardon?' asked Sam.

Kevin swallowed and said 'Me Mah and Dah were in it. Whair whir yours Remus?'

'Well,' Remus started. 'My Dad was a Slytherin, my brother's a Ravenclaw and my Mum didn't go to Hogwarts.'

'Isn't she a witch?' interrupted Sam.

'No. She's a Muggle, that's why she didn't see my brother and me off at the platform. I don't really mind which house I'm in. I'm just glad that I get the opportunity to come to Hogwarts. What about you Elizabeth?'

'Well, both my parents were Slytherins… so I wouldn't mind being there,' Remus noticed that Kevin's eyes had dropped to the ground when she'd said that. 'But I really wouldn't mind any of the houses. Gryffindor sounded all right, but so did Ravenclaw. I don't think I'm hard-working enough to be in Hufflepuff though. They have such high standards,' she added. Kevin's eyes flicked up at her comment. Remus was impressed with the way she'd handled the question. It was pretty obvious that she didn't want to be in Hufflepuff, but she's said it by complimenting the house at the same time.

Just as Remus was about to ask what they thought the Sorting Ceremony would entail (as his brother had tried to convince him it would involve a large pot of custard and general knowledge on the penguin family), the door to their compartment slid open, revealing the palest girl Remus had ever seen. She had straight jet-black hair down to her waist, and shocking green eyes. Even though she was obviously a first-year, she looked down her upturned nose at the four in the compartment with an air of superiority that suggested she owned the train.

'Have any of you seen a chameleon?' she drawled in a disinterested voice. 'Mary seems to have lost it again. In more ways than one.'

The four occupants looked to each other, shaking their heads.

'What colour is it?' Elizabeth asked sarcastically, and started to giggle. Sam also started laughing, and Remus couldn't help but let his mouth twitch at the comment. However, it occurred to him that this girl didn't look the sort to be trifled with.

The girl looked at Elizabeth with every suggestion of utter dislike before speaking again.

'Oh, aren't we the clever one.'

Elizabeth raised her eyebrows. 'It was only a joke, Parkinson.'

'Well it wasn't very funny now was it?' she snapped.

'We seemed to think so.'

Suddenly a loud crash was heard outside. Remus, Sam and Elizabeth stood up and moved towards the door, but Parkinson, who was still blocking the way, just rolled her eyes, before flicking them along the train aisle.

'Get up Mary,' she spat at a dark girl, who had apparently tripped over in the corridor.

Remus made a move to go out and help the poor girl, but Parkinson was still blocking his way, and he wasn't quite feeling brave enough to ask her to move.

Quickly getting up and dusting herself off, the girl called Mary looked down at herself and noticed that her knee was bleeding. She fumbled around in her pockets and pulled out a band-aid, with broomsticks on it, bent down, and applied it. Parkinson rolled her eyes yet again as the girl stood up straight.

'Sorry Medusa,' she replied in a thick Irish accent. 'I just tripped.'

'So it would seem,' Parkinson replied flatly, taking a step back into the train's aisle. She looked back at the occupants of the compartment, her eyes finally resting on Remus. 'What's your name?'

'Remus Lupin.'

'Lupin...' she rolled his last name off her tongue like she had been doing it all of the life. 'I think I know that name. Is your father the Resident Healer at Bridgewater?'

'Um, yes,' Remus replied. Parkinson was referring to a very old wizarding club on the outskirts of London. Few knew about it, and those who did were _extremely_ well off. To his complete and utter amazement, the girl's cool exterior faulted for a moment, and she smiled at him slightly.

'Your father is very talented, _Remus_,' she purred with an added emphasis on his first name, as if it was obviously an extension of friendship.

'Yes, yes he is.' Remus smiled back. He seemed to be making new friends left, right and centre!

'_My_ name is Medusa Parkinson, and this,' she indicated to the girl who had fallen, 'is Mary Monahan.' She scowled once more at Elizabeth. 'I already know _you_. And I know Dunstable, but who is _she_?' Her gaze finally rested on Sam, with not so much curiosity as disgust.

'_She_ is none of your business,' Elizabeth interrupted suddenly. 'This conversation is over _Parkinson_,' and with that sentiment she pulled the door shut forcefully.

'What was that all about?' Sam asked.

'Trust me, you don't want to know.'

'She was just asking who Sam was…' Remus stated questioningly.

'Let me tell you something about the Parkinson's Remus. They are what are known as "pure-blood fanatics", they think that just because they've got so called pureblood that they're above everyone else. Because Sam here is a Muggle-born, Medusa Parkinson and all of her little friends will put her down because she is different. They'll call her foul names, and just basically go out of their way to make her feel bad about herself. The sooner you differentiate yourself from them, the better.'

Remus raised an eyebrow.

'But I'm not a pureblood, and she seemed to like me.'

'Your last name can get you very far in the wizarding world Remus. You just have to have the right one.'

The rest of the train journey was uneventful, and Remus stayed quiet for most of it. He felt rather naïve to the obvious rivalry between Elizabeth and Medusa Parkinson. Having not grown up with many friends, he was very limited in his experiences of other people outside his immediate family. He knew that there were people in the world who were very prejudiced, but bigotry was usually due to people being brought-up in an ill informed environment, and was normally due to no fault of their own, especially in someone as young as Medusa Parkinson.

He also had the feeling that Elizabeth was a bit angry with him for some reason. He didn't like that feeling at all.

When they felt the train start to slow down, everyone in the compartment took off their jackets and slipped their long black cloaks over their normal clothes. Sam had a bit of trouble with the sleeves as she was obviously not used to their abnormally long length, but with a bit of help from Elizabeth she soon got them on without too much fuss.

A voice echoed through the train: 'We will be reaching Hogwarts in five minutes time. Please leave your luggage on the train; it will be taken to the school separately.'

Elizabeth gave a nervous giggle. 'Sorry, I feel like I'm about to play the _Presto_ part of the _Moonlight Sonata_ in the Albert Hall for some reason.' She giggled again. 'Without the sheet music,' she added.

'Elizabeth always talks in music metaphors,' Sam said at the look of confusion on Kevin's face.

'I do not!'

'Oh, so you saying "I feel like I got _The Clown_ by Kabalevsky right" when you passed your ballet exam was just a fluke was it?'

'Shut-up. Samantha.'

Remus smiled at Sam's indignation at the use of her full name, when the train finally stopped. The four walked into the corridor of the train and almost got squashed by a tall blond boy wearing the Head Boy badge on his chest as they exited the train.

They stepped out onto the tiny, dark platform, when a lamp came bobbing over the heads of the students and Remus heard a loud booming voice saying; 'Firs' years! Firs' years over here! C'mon follow me! Mind yer step, now! Firs' years follow me!'

Remus looked up in amazement at the man who was towering over the small first-years. His face was almost completely hidden by a long, shaggy main of hair and a wild, tangled beard, but Remus could make out his eyes, glinting like black beetles under all of the hair.

'I'm Rubeus Hagrid; Keep of Keys and Grounds at Hogwarts. If we're all 'ere, let's be off then.'

Hagrid turned on his heel and walked down the platform. Slipping and sliding, they followed him down what appeared to be a steep, narrow path. Nobody spoke much, but Remus could hear two boys near the back of the group whispering quickly to each other. Mary Monahan tripped at least four times on the way down the hill, cursing in what appeared to be Gaelic under her breath.

'Yeh'll get yer firs' sight o' Hogwarts in a sec,' Hagrid called over his shoulder, 'jus' round this bend here.'

There was a loud 'Ooooooh!'

The narrow path had opened suddenly on to the edge of a great black lake. Perched atop a high mountain on the other side, its windows sparkling in the starry sky, was a vast castle with many turrets and towers.

'No more'n four to a boat!' Hagrid called, pointing to a fleet of little boats sitting in the water by the shore. Remus, Kevin, Elizabeth and Sam looked at each other and silently agreed to go into the same boat.

'Everyone in?' shouted Hagrid, who had a boat to himself, 'Right then – FORWARD!'

And the fleet of little boats moved off all at once, gliding across the lake that was as smooth as glass. Everyone was silent, even the two boys had stopped whispering by this stage, as everyone was completely mesmerised by the sight of the castle looming overhead. It towered over them as they sailed nearer and nearer to the cliff on which it stood.

'Heads down!' yelled Hagrid as the first boats reached the cliff; they all bent their heads and the little boats carried them through a curtain of ivy, which hid a wide opening in the cliff face. They were carried along a dark tunnel, which seemed to be taking them right underneath the castle, until they reached a kind of underground harbour, where they clambered out on to rocks and pebbles.

They clambered up a passageway in the rock after Hagrid's lamp, coming out at last on to smooth, damp grass right in the shadow of the castle. Then they walked up a flight of stone steps and crowded around a huge, oak front door.

'Everyone here?'

Hagrid raised a gigantic fist and knocked three times on the castle door.

The door swung open at once. A stern, tall and black-haired witch in magenta robes stood there.

'The firs' years, Professor McGonagall,' said Hagrid.

'Thank you, Hagrid. I will take them from here.'

She pulled the door wide. The entrance hall was so big you could have fitted a whole house inside it. The stone walls were lit with flaming torches, the ceiling was too high to make out and a magnificent marble staircase facing them led to the upper floors.

They followed Professor McGonagall across the flagged stone floor. Remus could hear the drone of hundreds of voices from a doorway to the right, but Professor McGonagall showed the first years into a small empty chamber off the hall.

'Welcome to Hogwarts,' said Professor McGonagall. 'The start-of-term banquet will begin shortly, but before you take your seats in the Great Hall, you will be sorted into your houses. The Sorting is a very important ceremony because, while you are here, your house will be something like your family within Hogwarts. You will have classes with the rest of your house, sleep in your house dormitory and spend free time in your house common room.

'The four houses are called Gryffindor, Hufflepuff, Ravenclaw and Slytherin. Each house has its own noble history and each has produced outstanding witches and wizards. While you are at Hogwarts, your triumphs will earn your house points, while any rule breaking will lose house points. At the end of the year, the house with the most points is awarded the house cup, a great honour. I hope each of you will be a credit to whichever house becomes yours.

'The Sorting Ceremony will take place in a few minutes in front of the rest of the school. I suggest you all smarten yourselves up as much as you can while you are waiting.'

Her eyes lingered for a moment on the mud covered Mary Monahan before she said 'Scorgify' and Mary's cloak returned to its original state.

'I shall return when we are ready for you. Please wait quietly.'

A small splattering of murmurs erupted throughout the group. That is until a boy at the back of the room said rather loudly;

'Well cover me in egg and flour and bake me for 14 minutes! I don't know about anyone else but I'm as excited as a really excited person who's got a special reason to be excited!' the majority of the room laughed. Remus gave a small chuckle as he searched out the face for the voice. The bespectacled boy had black hair that stuck up at the back of his head, and it came as no surprise to Remus that he had been one of the two whisperers on the way to the boats. 'James Potter is the name, mischief making is the game!' he waved his hands and did a sort of half-bow, before gesturing to the boy next to him. 'This is my new counterpart in crime and entertainment Sirius Lee Black!' The room laughed louder this time.

'That's not my middle name!' exclaimed the boy called Sirius. Until the announcement of his apparently false middle name, he had been looking extremely proud and smug. Now, he just looked annoyed.

'Tis now,' laughed James.

'Thanks, Jimmy-boy,' Sirius replied grumpily, before cracking a grin. 'My mate Jemimah and I are going to be your entertainment for the night. But we need your help on one small matter. Can anyone tell me, what is the most ridiculous hat you've ever seen?' The crowd went silent again. 'Aw, come on guys! Surely one of you can think of something?'

'A fez?' a boy with blond hair and glasses suggested.

'A turban?' suggested a girl up the front.

'A beret?' said the boy who had forgotten his quill on the train platform.

'Ah cowbouy hat?' piped up Kevin.

'A witch's hat!' yelled Mary Monahan. Everyone turned to look at her. Medusa Parkinson rolled her eyes and took a step away from her. 'Sorry,' Mary said.

'One of those Carmen Miranda fruit hats?' Remus suggested tentatively.

All eyes turned on him. Remus blushed, he shouldn't have said anything. What on Earth could have possessed him?

And then to his astonishment, James and Sirius looked at each other with huge grins on their faces and started clapping.

'I think we have a winner!' exclaimed Sirius. Remus blushed even more when the room started clapping him and Medusa smiled openly at him.

When the clapping had died down, the boy with blond hair and glasses asked 'Why did you want to know suggestions for _that_?'

'All in good time my man, all in good time.'

'Move along now,' said a sharp voice. 'The Sorting Ceremony's about to start.' Professor McGonagall had returned. 'Now, form a line, and follow me.'

Remus got in line behind Kevin, Elizabeth behind him, and Sam behind her. Unbeknownst to Remus, just as they were about to move, James Potter and Sirius Black sneaked in front of Elizabeth.

'Hey!' said Sam poking Sirius in the back. 'That's pushing in.'

Sirius turned to her and looked her up and down.

'Bug off,' he replied.

Sam was about to retaliate, when Professor McGonagall gave her a stern look, immediately silencing her.

The line moved out of the room, back across the hall and through a pair of double doors into the Great Hall.

* * *

Please Read & Review 

Next Chapter: **Chapter III: The Sorting Hat  
**Remus gets Sorted, Romulus makes his first real appearance, we meet the new Gryffindors and may see a few familiar faces along the way...

Peace,  
Rotae


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter III: The Sorting Hat**

Romulus had always told Remus that the Great Hall was spectacular, but he still couldn't help but gasp at the sight of it. It was lit by thousands and thousands of candles, which were floating in mid-air over four long tables, where the rest of the students were sitting. These tables were laid with glittering golden plates and goblets. At the top of the hall was another long table where the teachers were sitting. Professor McGonagall led the first-years up there, so that they came to a half in a line facing the other students, with the teachers behind them. Looking along the table second from the left, Remus searched out his brother. He saw him almost immediately as he was sitting in the seat next to the place where the new Ravenclaws would be. He smiled at Remus and pulled a funny face.

Remus grinned. His brother always knew how to make him less nervous. Not that he _was_ nervous. Not at all. Not one bit.

He was brought out of his self-convincing session, when Professor McGonagall silently placed a four-legged stool in front of the first-years. On top of the stool she put a pointed wizard's hat. This hat was patched and frayed, and extremely dirty. Just as he glanced back towards his brother with a questioning look, people started laughing. Professor McGonagall gave a small yelp, and Remus looked to see what was wrong.

Instead of the old, ragged hat that had been there just moments ago, what looked like a large tropical fruit bowl had appeared. It took Remus a minute to realise what was going on. James and, or, Sirius had obviously known what the Sorting would entail, and changed the hat into the most ridiculous looking thing you could have imagined. Obviously one of them was very good with Transfiguration.

As the school continued to laugh Professor McGonagall tapped the hat with her wand and turned it back to its original form. She turned to look at the rest of the school with a highly stern look, making everyone hush as she scanned each face. She then turned to face the first-years with the same look and stopped her gaze next to Remus. Remus looked beside him, and noticed for the first time that James and Sirius were standing to his left.

They looked as guilty as a two puppies sitting next to a pile of poo.

Professor McGonagall seemed to think so too. She walked up to them and looked down her nose. Remus saw she looked angry, and just a little bit… impressed?

'Detention, Friday night. Eight o'clock. My office. _Don't_ be late.'

James and Sirius looked slightly crestfallen. Professor McGonagall walked back towards the hat and tapped it once more. For a few seconds there was complete silence. Then the hat twitched. A rip near the brim opened wide like a mouth – and the hat began to sing:

'_I'm the Sorting Hat of Hogwarts,  
I choose where you shall be,  
For the next seven years,  
As you will shortly see.  
New faces and new minds,  
I have to plough through to decide,  
Different races different creatures,  
In this coming year you'll find.  
You might be placed in Gryffindor,  
Who are courageous and brave.  
Or perhaps in Hufflepuff,  
You'll find friends to the grave.  
You'll have to be smart for Ravenclaw,  
Or Rowena won't let you in,  
And if you're ambitious and cunning,  
Then you'll be in Slytherin.  
Four houses for the students,  
In which I have to sort,  
Four choices for each one of you,  
Depending on where you ought,  
To go and make new friends,  
And retain them fixed and true,  
When next year I'll have to sing again,  
For if you only knew,  
What lies ahead in front of you,  
Instead of from behind,  
In your house you'll meet new people,  
But keep an open mind.  
Brave, loyal, smart or determined,  
I tell you where you're at,  
So sit down and enjoy the show,  
By the Sorting Hat!'_

The whole hall burst into applause as the hat finished its song. It bowed to each of the four tables and then became quite still again.

Remus felt slightly relieved. There would be no custard _or_ general knowledge about penguins. Not that Remus had _believed_ anything his brother said. Of course not. And not that he had actually looked up some books about penguins either…

Professor McGonagall stepped forward holding a long roll of parchment.

'When I call your name, you will put on the hat and sit on the stool to be sorted,' she said. 'Applebee, Amanda!'

A stout girl with curly hair pushed through the line, put on the hat, which fell right down over her eyes, and sat down. A moment's pause-

'SLYTHERIN!' shouted the hat.

The table on the left cheered and clapped as Amanda went to sit down at the Slytherin table.

'Black, Sirius!'

Sirius swaggered out of the line, and shoved the hat on his head. He seemed to be having a hard time with it, and he had the hat on a few good minutes before-

'GRYFFINDOR!'

The Gryffindor table clapped, though not as enthusiastically as the Slytherin table had for Amanda. In fact, the Slytherin and Gryffindor tables had started whispering amongst themselves, and most of them looked shocked. Remus noted that the tall, blond Head Boy (who he found was sitting at the Slytherin table), was not clapping at all, and looked rather miffed. Sirius, however, didn't seem to mind and ran down to the Gryffindor table.

'Brannon, Belinda!'

'SLYTHERIN!'

Again the Slytherin table erupted in applause. Belinda ran off to sit next to Amanda.

Kevin got his wish of Hufflepuff, and 'Daly, Holly, Dent, Arnold and Evans, Lily' went to the Gryffindor table, where Sirius promptly jumped up and hugged each of them in turn (much to the amusement of the rest of the hall). 'French, Olivia' became the first Ravenclaw, and Remus saw his brother shake her hand and smile.

The hat was up to 'Huneycutt, Joshua' (the boy with blond hair and glasses became another Hufflepuff), when the names jumped to 'Johannes, Cassandra' (Slytherin), to 'Kendra, Diana' (another Gryffindor who was hugged by Sirius) then to 'Leery-Masters, Adam'.

_L? Gee, they got there quicker than I would have liked,_ thought Remus dryly.

'RAVENCLAW!'

'Lupin, Remus!'

Remus stepped out of the line nervously. Careful not to trip over himself he picked up the hat, placed it on his head and sat down on the stool. The last thing he saw before he was engulfed in darkness was his brother grinning at him.

'Ah, yes, I've heard about you. Hmmm,' said a small voice in his ear. 'Difficult. A good mind here, and hard-working too, my, what a good combination. Plenty of motivation I see, and definite courage. Rather like your brother in many ways,' the hat added thoughtfully. 'Mr. Black wants you in _his_ house you know… oh, but what a mind… decisions, decisions, where to put you? Do you have a preference?'

'Not really. I think all of the houses are great,' Remus "said" to himself, still slightly shocked at the voice he was hearing.

'Hmm… maybe Hufflepuff… no… no. I don't think Hufflepuff is for you. I think the house that you will enjoy the most, is – GRYFFINDOR!'

Remus heard the hat shout the last word to the whole hall. He picked the hat off his head, sat it back down on the stool and shakily walked over to the Gryffindor table, where Sirius Black jumped up and hugged him firmly, as he had done with the others in Gryffindor.

'Knew you had it in you mate!' Sirius exclaimed.

After almost suffocating and then sitting down, Remus glanced up at the High Table, and saw that Professor Dumbledore was looking at him. He gave Remus a smile and a nod, and turned his attention back to the stool. From two tables over, Remus also saw his brother grinning at him, and he shrugged as if to say 'Too bad'. Remus smiled back and watched the rest of the Sorting.

Mary Monahan ended up in Ravenclaw, after falling off the stool twice, 'O'Halloran, Emmett' and 'Oliver, Daisy' both became Slytherins and Elizabeth took the longest with the hat so far, before she also became a Gryffindor. She ran down towards the Gryffindor table, before sitting down between Sirius and Remus and giving each one of them a hug. Remus felt a bit funny, but that was probably due to the tightness of the hug, and the emptiness of his stomach.

The next person to be sorted was Medusa Parkinson, who hardly had the hat on her head before she was put in Slytherin. 'Pearce, Beatrice' became a Hufflepuff, before 'Pettigrew, Peter' (the round faced boy who had forgotten his quill on the platform) became the next Gryffindor, followed directly by James Potter, both of whom Sirius (and now Elizabeth) hugged, this becoming even more funny to the rest of the school.

'Roetz, Scarlett' became a Hufflepuff, Remus saw his brother greet 'Smith, Geneva' at the Ravenclaw table. 'Snape, Severus' sat down next to Medusa Parkinson (apparently to both their distaste) before being joined by 'Stebbins, Stephen'. Five people in a row became Hufflepuffs, before 'Whitby, Walter' was Sorted into Slytherin and Sam was the final Gryffindor, receiving hugs from not only Sirius (albeit a very short one) and Elizabeth, but from the entire Gryffindor first-years. The last two people to be sorted (Zimmerby, Alison and Amit) became a Ravenclaw and Slytherin respectively.

Professor McGonagall rolled up the scroll and put the stool away, when Professor Dumbledore stood up and addressed the school.

'Welcome to another year Hogwarts! I have a few delightful words to say, and they are chocolate hobnobs, ginger snaps and humbugs! How I am looking forward to dessert tonight!

'Thank you!'

The occupants of the Great Hall clapped and cheered, Remus cracked a grin; Dumbledore certainly knew what spoke to teenagers.

The plates in front of them magically filled with a wondrous amount of food, everything from lamb shanks and roast chicken, to beans and pumpkin and everything in between. Everyone filled up their plates and began to eat the amazing food.

The boy next to Sirius turned to the new Gryffindors and said:

'Hullo. My name is Frank Longbottom, and this is Margaret Abercrombie, we are the fifth year Gryffindor Prefects. If you have any questions, or if you need help with anything, don't hesitate to ask us. Okay?'

The first-years nodded.

'What's that?' asked Sam, as she pointed a pearly white man standing in the middle of the table.

'That's Sir Nicholas de Mimsy-Porpington, or Nearly Headless Nick,' Margaret Abercrombie explained. 'He's our resident ghost. The Hufflepuffs have the Fat Friar, the Ravenclaws have the Grey Lady and the Slytherins have the Bloody Baron.'

'You'd also better watch out for Peeves,' warned Frank. 'He's a poltergeist, which means he can actually pick things up and throw them at you. He said at the end of last year that he would be targeting the Ravenclaws this year. But, if at all possible it's best to avoid him altogether.' And with that warning, the two prefects began carrying out a discussion with some second-years that were sitting on their other side.

Nearly Headless Nick came over a moment later, and put Sam right off her food when he showed _exactly_ how one can be "nearly headless". He ruefully started to explain his horrible death, when Frank leaned over and told him not to be so morbid to the first-years.

'Why don't we go around in a circle and say something about ourselves?' Elizabeth suggested when Nick had departed.

'Sounds like a great idea!' exclaimed James, making all of the peas on his fork fall off.

'Can you tell that Jamesie likes talking about himself?' mocked Sirius, making most of the group laugh.

'Well then _you_ go first Sirius.'

'Fine, I will. My name is Sirius Black, and my ambition in life is to annoy my family as much as humanly possible, hence being in Gryffindor,' he pushed a lock of shiny black hair behind his ear. 'Nothing is going to annoy my family more than me being here. It makes me feel so proud.' He pretended to cry with pride, and then looked at Elizabeth expectantly.

'Oh, okay. Um, well, I'm Elizabeth Palmer, and I'm looking forward to Defence Against the Dark Arts and Potions, because my Dad works for the Beasts Division at the Ministry, and my Mum is a Potion Experimenter.'

Remus involuntarily choked on his baked potato. Her father worked for the Beasts Division? This did not bode well. Remus suddenly felt very boxed in, he had to keep his secret for at least the next seven years. Could he really pull this off?

It took him a moment to realise that everyone was looking at him, waiting for him to say something about himself. What should he say?

'I – er, I'm Remus Lupin, and my brother is a Ravenclaw prefect. He says that I'll like Defence Against the Dark Arts, so I guess I'm looking forward to that the most.'

James was particularly eager to talk. 'Well, as you all know by now, my name is James Potter, and I want to be the best Quidditch player this country has ever seen! Also, I was the one who transfigured our lovely Sorting Hat. My Mum has been teaching me practical magic for as long as I can remember, and Transfiguration is definitely my best area of expertise.'

'My name is Peter Pettigrew, and I'm really looking forward to being able to understand magic. I, uh, my parents aren't magical, so, yeah… all of this is a bit new to me.' Remus noted that Peter's watery blue eyes kept darting around to each person at the table, as though he was trying to take everything in at double the normal speed.

'I'm Sam Williams, and like Peter, I'm… what was it Elizabeth?'

'Muggle-born,' Elizabeth replied after swallowing her carrot.

'Yeah, I'm a Muggle-born; so until about two months ago, I didn't even know wizards and witches existed, or that I'd been living next to a whole family of them for most of my life!'

The next person to talk was a witch with frizzy brown hair. 'My name is Diana Kendra, and I'm from East Suffolk, my Dad is a Muggle, and my Mum is a witch. I have two younger sisters, and I am so happy to get away from them!'

'My name is Lily Evans, and I am like Sam and Peter in the respect that I'm Muggle-born. I have an older sister, and I loved school at home, so hopefully I'll enjoy it here as well.'

'I'm Holly Dayley, and I want to work for the _Daily Prophet_ when I leave Hogwarts. I'm really interested in the History of Magic and Divination.' Remus could just picture Holly as a reporter for the _Daily Prophet_; she had her hair in a neat blonde bob, and had wide, assertive eyes behind her horn-rimmed glasses.

'Lucky last eh? Okay, I'm Arnold Dent, but mostly I go by Dee. My sister is the other fifth-year Ravenclaw prefect,' he looked at Remus meaningfully, though Remus had no idea why, 'and I love Quidditch too. I support the Tutshill Tornados.' He pointed to a Tornados badge on the outside of this cloak.

Just as Dee stopped talking, Remus felt a tap on his shoulder, and looked around to see his brother standing behind him. He smiled before ruffling Remus' hair.

'You know it's a pity, I had such high hopes for you,' he laughed before sitting down sideways between Remus and Peter, making Remus budge up next to Elizabeth.

Remus grinned. 'Well, not all of us can be geniuses you know.'

'No, I suppose not.' He turned to the rest of the Gryffindors. 'You're all going to take good care of Remus aren't you? Because Mum will come down here and do her raving nar-nar if her little Remus gets hurt.'

Remus felt like hiding under the table and he felt his cheeks flush.

The rest of the first-years laughed.

'Rest assured he's in safe hands with us,' said James. 'No harm will come of him under _my _watch, mark my words!'

'I will have to hold you to that. And I will also have to hold _Margaret_ to that,' he added louder so that Margaret turned around to face him.

'What am I going to be held accountable for? You losing the Quidditch Cup again Lupin?'

Romulus let out bark of laughter. 'Yeah, in your dreams. It'll be Ravenclaw's name on that trophy this year, mark my words!'

'Yeah, yeah, that's what you said last year.'

'That was just the warm up. The real game starts this year.' Margaret grinned at the comment and turned back to her food. Romulus' eyes flicked back to the Ravenclaw table. 'Ah, I'd better be off. Your sister is giving me that 'get-back-over-here-and-look-after-your-own-house's-first-years-look,' he said to Dee.

'Have you asked her out yet?' Dee asked suddenly.

'No… why do you ask?'

'She's been talking about you all summer. It's bloody annoying.'

'Has she?' Romulus asked and looked back at the Ravenclaw table. Remus followed his line of sight and saw a girl who looked like the female version of Dee. She had flawless black skin and an afro that rivalled her brothers in size. Romulus had been talking all year about a girl called Editha, and by the look of his gaze, this was obviously the girl. Romulus cleared his throat. 'Yes, well, I'd better get back, see you later,' he said and stood up, swinging his leg back over the bench. He leaned in next to Remus' ear and whispered, 'I love you,' gave him a hug, kissed the top of his head and walked back to his own seat.

Remus blushed. 'Yeah, that's my brother Romulus,' he said quietly, 'he's rather affectionate.'

'I like him,' Elizabeth said appraisingly.

'So does my sister,' added Dee dryly.

The conversation continued on to their families, and somewhere in the middle of their conversation, the plates in front of them were cleared, and mountains of dessert appeared. Everything from bread and butter pudding, to chocolate ice cream had magically replaced the lamb shanks and roast chicken.

After their stomachs were filled with the delights of dessert, Professor Dumbledore stood up at the front table and cleared his throat. 'I'm afraid you must sit through one more speech. Just a few start of term notices before we retire for the night.

'Firstly, I would like to welcome our new Defence Against the Dark Arts teacher, Professor Praeiudico. We wish him all the best for the coming year.' The Professor was tall and thin, with horn-rimmed glasses and a stern expression. He stood up and was greeted by a lukewarm applause. Remus could have sworn that when Professor Praeiudico looked at the Gryffindor first-years he had the slightest look of revulsion on his face.

'First years, and others,' he gave a look towards the Slytherin table, 'should note that the forest on Hogwarts grounds is prohibited to all students. Also Professor Sprout has reminded me to tell you that we have an exciting new specimen at Hogwarts this year. A Whomping Willow has been planted over the summer, and it doesn't take kindly to people trying to touch it. This new tree is extremely dangerous, and should be avoided at all costs. Anyone attempting to touch it will receive the same punishment as going into the forest.

'I have been asked by Mr. Filch, the caretaker, to remind you all that no magic should be used in the corridors between classes, and severe penalties will apply to anyone breaking this rule. A list of some two hundred and twenty-three banned items are posted to the his door, and none of these items are to be used on Hogwarts grounds.

'Quidditch trials will be held in the second week of term. Anyone interested should contact Madam Hooch.

'And finally, before we go off to the land of Nod, let us sing the school song. Everyone pick their favourite tune.' Dumbledore gave his wand a little flick and a long ribbon came out of the tip that formed the words to the school song. 'One, two, three and-' the school started singing:

'_Hogwarts, Hogwarts, Hoggy Warty Hogwarts,  
Teach us something please,  
Whether we be old and bald  
Or young with scabby knees,  
Our heads could do with filling  
Of interesting stuff,  
For now they're bare and full of air,  
Dead flies and bits of fluff,  
So teach us things worth knowing,  
Bring back what we forgot,  
Just do your best, we'll do the rest,  
And learn until our brains all rot.'_

Everyone finished the song at different times and the very last to finish was Mary Monahan, who appeared to be singing _Carmen_. The occupants of the Great Hall clapped each other.

'How I do love a good sing-along,' Dumbledore exclaimed. 'And now, off to bed with all of you. We have a big day ahead of us tomorrow. Goodnight.'

The first-year Gryffindors followed Frank Longbottom and Margaret Abercrombie out of the Great Hall, and up the marble staircase. Twice they walked through hidden passageways, and finally they came to a painting of a very fat woman in a pink dress.

'Password?' she said.

'Whomping Willow,' said Margaret, and the portrait swung open to reveal a round entrance hole. They scrambled through it and found themselves in the Gryffindor common room, which had squishy chairs and a roaring fire.

'First year boys with me,' Frank called over the top of their heads.

'First year girls with me,' Margaret added.

Leaving the rest of Gryffindor behind them, Remus, James, Sirius, Peter and Dee followed Frank over to the other side of the room, through a door and up a spiral staircase. They passed doors with second, third, fourth, fifth, sixth and seventh-years on them, and found themselves at the top of the staircase facing a door, which proclaimed 'First Years'.

'This is where you'll be living for the next seven years of your life. My dormitory is three doors down from this one if you need me. I know you'll do Gryffindor proud in the coming years, and I know you'll have fun.

'So, I'll leave you to it. Goodnight.'

Frank walked back down the stairs to the common room, leaving the five boys to walk into their room. Five four-posters hung with deep-red velvet curtains greeted them, and they found their trunks at the end of their beds. The excitement of the day had obviously taken its toll on them all, because Remus noticed, for the first time, that he wasn't the only one who hadn't spoken since leaving the Great Hall. The five boys sleepily pulled on their pyjamas, and clambered into their beds, bidding goodnight to their roommates.

Remus put his alarm clock on the shelf above his head, and sighed happily as he relaxed into the comfy bed, reminiscing about the day's events. The last thought he had on his mind before he fell into a slumber, was how much he was going to enjoy his time here. If, he could keep his secret.

* * *

Please Read & Review 

Next Chapter: **Chapter IV: ****The Defence Against the Dark Arts Professor  
**The real story begins. Remus has his first lessons, gets to know his friends a little more, and meets the new DADA Professor.

**A.N: **Peter being a Muggle-born is _not_ my original idea. That stroke of brilliance comes from contrail from LiveJournal. The link to her wonderful essay, which changed my entire stance on Peter's Ancestry can be located in my profile.

Peace,  
Rotae


	4. Chapter 4

**Chapter IV: The Defence Against the Dark Arts Professor**

Remus groaned as the sound of his alarm clock rattled him awake at six-thirty in the morning. He reached up to the shelf above his head and turned the dial, to make the ringing stop. After stretching and yawning, he pushed back the duvet, sat up and rubbed his eyes. It was far too early to be up, but in order to protect his secret this was a necessity. He pulled back the curtains and peered out, there was no sign of the other boys. So, being careful to not make a noise, he got out of bed, opened his trunk and got his shaving equipment and clothes for the day. It wasn't until he had put his clothes down on a chair in the bathroom, that he looked down at his robe and realised there was a large Gryffindor crest on the left breast. He ran his finger over the emblem and smiled; how he was looking forward today.

He went through his morning routine of showering, shaving and dressing before going back into their dormitory and putting his pyjamas back under his pillow and his shaving gear in his trunk. Drawing back the curtains that surrounded his bed, he fiddled with the heavy material before finally tying a bow on each of the four posts. He made his bed and then realised he hadn't put his calendar up on his wall. This was very important; the date was something Remus knew he had to keep track of. He pulled it out of his trunk and stuck it up on his wall. Sighing, he looked at the date; he only had three more nights until the full moon rose, in his excitement yesterday he'd almost forgotten.

It was at this time that James' floating head appeared next to him and said, 'Good morning.'

Remus almost jumped out of his skin. 'What in the name of-' he started.

'Hey, calm down!' James exclaimed. 'It's an invisibility cloak. My Dad gave it to me the day before I got here. Nifty isn't it?' He pulled off the cloak and held it out for Remus to feel. It felt very strange to touch, like water woven into material.

'It's amazing,' Remus commented.

'What are you doing up so early?' Remus was about to answer, when James reached out and touched the emblem on Remus' robe. 'Nice,' he added, 'do you reckon I've got one too?' He folded the cloak and walked over to his trunk and pulled out his own robe, before putting it on over the top of his pyjamas. 'Being here is so cool!'

Remus smiled. James looked like a child in a chocolate frog factory. He twirled around on the spot, watching the robe spin out behind him, before running over to Sirius' bed and pulling the curtains open and yelling, 'Wake up Sirius,' at the top of his lungs.

The morning's events played out in a similar fashion, with Sirius and James waking up Peter and Dee at the same time, which resulted in simultaneous yelling. This evolved into a large-scale pillow fight, which included everyone putting on their school robes, their room being transformed into an imaginary medieval battleground, and calling one another other 'Sir Lupin' and alike. This, of course, made the four boys who weren't already properly dressed in rather a hurry to get to breakfast. Sirius, however, was so nonplussed, that he ended up going down to the Great Hall still with his pyjamas on underneath his robes.

'You can't see what you're wearing underneath anyway!' he exclaimed. 'You're not meant to wear clothes underneath robes. It's just the Muggle influence on today's society. Well, that's what my Mum reckons anyway. Hence, why I _am_ wearing clothes. Even if they are pyjamas.'

When the boys finally made it down to the Gryffindor table, the girls were already almost finishing eating. As they delved into the piles of food, Remus noted that Elizabeth (whom he was sitting next to) was breathing unusually. Normally he wouldn't have noticed, but with the full moon so close, it was hard not to. She seemed to be trying to block her nose.

'What's wrong?' he asked her, and bit into a slice of toast.

'Id's da kippers,' she responded, 'I don'd like seafood.'

'Oh.' Remus moved the kippers as far away as possible.

'Danks, bud I can sdill smell dem.'

'Sorry.'

'Dat's okay. Dot your fault.'

'Mail's here!' exclaimed Dee, as hundreds of owls swooped into the Great Hall, dropping packages and letters to their respective owners. Remus saw his mother's owl come swooping in from a top window and drop a package on Romulus' table, before swooping over to the Gryffindor table and dropping an identical package in front of him. Picking up the parcel, Remus quickly opened it to find a letter from his Mum and Dad, and some of his mother's chocolate chip biscuits. Grinning, he opened the letter.

_Dearest Remus,  
Firstly, don't eat the biscuits at breakfast. Secondly, we love you, and hope that you are enjoying yourself.  
Congratulations on your Sorting into Gryffindor, you are our brave little soldier, after-all. We're sure that you've made lots of friends to tell us about, and we want to know everything that has happened since you got there. We're sure you were relieved to realise that no custard was involved in the Sorting. We're sorry that we couldn't tell you, but it was so amusing, we just couldn't resist.  
As for Sunday, your Great Aunt's funeral will be on Monday morning, so you'll be picked up and escorted just before sundown on Sunday, so don't be scared, and remember that we will be there with you.  
Romulus is there if you need him, and if you want anything sent from home to make you more comfortable just let us know.  
Don't forget to tell us about your new friends, and we hope to hear from you after Sunday night.  
All our love,  
Mum and Dad_

Remus sighed as he reread the third paragraph. He was happy that his parents had helped him in his first lie; it seemed easier now that he wouldn't have to make it up himself. This would be his first transformation away from his home, it would probably be more painful than usual, and that would mean it would take longer to heal. He decided he should probably go and meet the Matron before his first transformation. After all, she would be taking him to and from the Whomping Willow, and attending to any damage he did to himself over the next seven years, it would be best if he got on with her.

'Blah, blah, blah!' Sirius' voice interrupted Remus' train of thought.

'Huh?' Remus asked vaguely.

'It's my mother,' Sirius responded. 'She's sent me a letter basically saying what a disappointment I am to the family.'

'Why?' asked Peter.

'Because I've been Sorted into Gryffindor. I can't think of a letter I've enjoyed reading more. I think I might frame it.' Sirius held the letter out in front of him and cocked his head to one side, as though trying to picture what sort of frame he should use.

Professor McGonagall tapped Sirius on the shoulder and handed him a sheet of parchment. She walked along the table, handing out more sheets, which contained, Remus realised, their timetables for the year.

'Brilliant!' exclaimed James. 'Double Transfiguration, I can't wait! I like Thursdays the best all ready.'

'Yeah, and Defence Againsd de Dark Ards as well, should be fund,' Elizabeth added.

After finishing breakfast, the ten Gryffindors were so excited they made their way to Transfiguration early, where they found Professor McGonagall standing at the front of the class, her hands clasped together; she looked very intimidating. Most of the Ravenclaws were already sitting down; however, Mary Monahan rushed in behind the Gryffindors and almost collided with Remus before skidding to a halt and falling backwards. Remus and Dee bent down and helped her back up.

'Ta for that,' she said enthusiastically. 'Your brother asked me to give this to you.' She handed Remus a piece of parchment.

'Thanks,' he replied, and noticed that Dee had sat down next to Peter. James and Sirius were sitting next to each other, as were Diana and Holly, and Elizabeth and Sam, this left Remus to sit next to Lily, who looked rather uncomfortable and nervous.

He sat down and smiled at her.

'Hi,' Lily said. 'What's that?' She pointed to the piece of parchment in his hand.

'It's from my brother,' Remus mused, and opened it, finding a letter and a roughly drawn map of Hogwarts with labels of classes written in a few rooms.

_Hey Remus,   
When I heard that you had Transfiguration first up, I thought I might impart some wisdom about McGonagall.__  
1. She's big on house unity, if you get the chance, pair up with a Ravenclaw; they all seem pretty good this year (as always).__  
2. She doesn't favour Gryffindor even though she's Head of House; if anything I've noticed she's harder on you guys, so don't give her a reason to deduct points. __  
3. She will reward you for answering in class, you know half the book already, so don't be afraid to answer questions.   
4. Don't pass notes.   
5. Do take notes.  
I know you'll help others if they're struggling, and don't forget to have fun! McGonagall is a fair teacher, and she knows her stuff. I think you'll like her.  
__All my love,  
Romulus  
P.S. Hope the map helps. I got lost four times on my first day. _

'It's a few pointers about Professor McGonagall, and a map for where our classes are going to be.' Remus handed the piece of parchment to Lily who scanned it quickly.

The bell rang, signalling the start of class. Professor McGonagall, who had been watching them like a hawk since they arrived, finally broke her silence. Remus quickly stuffed Romulus' note into his pocket.

'Transfiguration is some of the most complex and dangerous magic you will learn at Hogwarts,' she said. 'Anyone _messing__around,' _(she looked pointedly at James and Sirius) 'in my class will leave and not come back. You have been warned.'

She proceeded to take the roll and then turned the blackboard into a cow (much to Mary Monahan's delight) and back again. Remus was very impressed to say the least. With a flick of her wand a large amount of notes appeared on the blackboard and they were told to copy them down (much to Sirius and James' disgust).

After everyone had finished copying them, the Professor walked in front of their tables and placed an unlit match in front of them. As she passed James and Sirius, she paused for a moment, clicked her fingers and the tips of the matches ignited, and in a heartbeat, burned out. Apparently she didn't trust them, and after The Sorting Remus could hardly blame her. She also did the same to Mary Monahan's match, but that was probably so she wouldn't burn down the classroom.

'After reading the notes on the board, you should have a firm grasp on how to accomplish your task. You may begin.'

Not surprisingly, James was the first to successfully transfigure his match into a shiny needle, even managing to have a strand of black cotton threaded through the eye as a nod to the charred end. He called over Professor McGonagall, and she gave James the same look as she had at the Sorting Ceremony. She was impressed, but highly annoyed. She told James to correct Sirius in his articulation and moved over to the Ravenclaw table where Adam Leery-Masters had either pricked his finger with a needle, or managed to get a splinter from the match. Either way, he was hissing loudly.

After a few minutes Sirius called the Professor back over to see his needle. And a little while later Remus managed to transfigure his own needle successfully.

Lily, however, was having trouble making her needle pointy.

'Sometimes it helps if you reread the notes,' Remus suggested quietly. 'I know I always seem to miss something.'

Lily smiled and thanked Remus before looking down at her needle again. She had gotten the colour right and the ends had just started to curve, when James tilted back on his chair.

'You're not pointing your wand right,' he said rather loudly to her.

Lily looked up at James sharply. 'Thanks,' she said tersely. 'But I'd like to learn for myself.' Taking Remus' suggestion, she looked over her notes, waving her wand as she read. After about six waves while reading, she looked back at her half-needle, concentrated and said the incantation. Her needle's ends snapped to attention and formed two perfect points.

'Well done,' Remus mused.

'Thanks.'

'Told you,' interrupted James.

'When I want your help, _Potter_, I'll ask for it,' Lily retorted. James frowned and sat back properly in his chair, before engaging in a hurried discussion with Sirius.

'What's up with you and James?' Remus asked tentatively.

Lily sighed. 'He insulted me at breakfast. I don't think he meant to, but he did all the same.'

'What did he say?'

'I'd rather not talk about it if that's okay.'

'Sure, that's fine.'

Lunch went very slowly, but that was probably because everyone was looking forward to Defence, except perhaps for James, who seemed to have a slight aversion to the subject. They were about half-way through lunch, when Kevin Dunstable came over with Josh Huneycutt.

''Lo.' Kevin said. 'Ah herd you had Defence next. Jist thought you shood know tha' he's no very nice.'

'Right pillock if you ask me,' Josh added.

'Why? What's wrong with him?' asked Elizabeth.

'He's obsessed with taking house points if you don't know the textbook back to front. We lost twenty points because we didn't know five signs that identify a werewolf, and _that _wasn't even _in_ the textbook.'

Remus gulped. He was asking _first-years_ about werewolves? Romulus told him that they weren't supposed to start dark creatures until their third year.

'Well, we won't lose points for that,' Elizabeth's voice interrupted Remus' train of thought. 'I already know that, my Dad taught me that when I was about seven!'

'Whell then you'll be fine. Jist thought you shood know. See ya 'rund.'

Remus fidgeted nervously as Kevin and Josh walked off, leaving the Gryffindors to ponder just how bad the next lesson was going to be.

They decided to get there as early as possible, so as not to give the Professor any reason to deduct points. When they arrived they found the classroom empty; there was no sign of the Professor. They took seats at the front of the class, and Remus made sure he sat at the back of the Gryffindors. He didn't want to draw any attention to himself if they were going to be talking about werewolves. Apparently the Ravenclaws had the same thought about being early, because they walked in just as the Gryffindors were sitting down. Even Mary Monahan was there on time, and didn't even fall over.

As the bell rang to signal the start of class, they heard the door slam shut behind them. Everyone turned around to see Professor Praeiudico stride forcefully past their chairs and come to rest in front of his desk, setting a large briefcase down.

'Good afternoon students.'

There was a murmur of 'good afternoon's from the class.

'No. When I say 'good afternoon students', you say 'good afternoon Professor Praeiudico'. Try again. Good afternoon students.'

'Good afternoon Professor Praeiudico,' the students chanted together.

'Better. Now, I expect only the very best from my students. I will not tolerate misbehaviour or laziness, nor lateness or excuses. You _will_ hand my essays in on time, you will speak only when spoken to, and I _will_ deduct points for incorrect or incomplete answers.

'Now, when I call your name you will stand up, and answer with 'present'.' He opened his briefcase and pulled out a scroll. 'Sirius Black.'

'Present,' said a very disgruntled Sirius, after standing up. It was obvious he didn't like being told what to do.

There was no incident until the Professor came to Remus' name. He paused after Adam Leery-Masters and looked up from his scroll.

'Time, I think, for a _random_ question. The next person on the role,' he looked down, giving the appearance he didn't know who it was, 'Remus Lupin, give me five signs that identify the werewolf.'

Remus shakily stood up, and took a deep breath. 'Well, the shape of the snout-'

'In _human_ form,' Professor Praeiudico interrupted him.

'Um, well-'

'Quickly boy, we haven't got all day.' The Professor seemed to be smiling rather unnaturally.

'In human form a werewolf exhibits unnatural strength, keener senses and sharper premolars than is usual in humans. Werewolves also have an aversion to silver, because this can result in burning of the flesh, and sometimes have abnormal hair colouring, which reflects the colour of their fur in wolf form.'

'Correct. But you could have also mentioned their pointed ears, the often-yellow colouring of the eyes, thick hair or elongated middle fingers and fingernails.'

Remus sat down and subconsciously clasped his hands together under the desk, hiding his middle fingers. The Professor had pointed out the most visually obvious of traits, making Remus feel highly self-conscious. He had the feeling that Professor Praeiudico didn't much care for him. The staff of Hogwarts had been informed of Remus' condition, but it was quite obvious that this Professor didn't think he belonged here. Fancy asking him, of all people, what to look for when identifying a werewolf in _human_ form.

From the other side of the room, Adam Leery-Masters had raised his hand tentatively.

'Yes?' Professor Praeiudico said sharply.

Adam hesitantly stood up. 'I was just wondering, sir, why we are expected to know about werewolves when they aren't spoken of in the textbook.'

'You should have been taught how to identify dark creatures from an early age. Not only do I expect that you know how to identify _beasts_, I require it. And you will not question my teaching methods again. Five points from Ravenclaw.'

The Ravenclaw side of the room made noises of shock and disbelief.

'Would you like to make that ten?'

The room went quiet and Adam shakily sat down, appearing to be mortified at the thought of losing Ravenclaw points.

'Good. Now, on with the role.'

Unsurprisingly, there were no more "random" questions directed to anyone in the class. Professor Praeiudico then proceeded to hand out pieces of parchment to everyone, which had questions about the textbook he had set. By the time everyone walked out of the class, they were all adamant that Defence Against the Dark Arts was probably going to be the least enjoyable subject they took, so long as they had "Professor Prat" at the helm.

Remus certainly wasn't happy. This man was going to do everything he could to try and get Remus' secret out in the open. It was very obvious that he wanted Remus not out of the school, but he also wanted him to fail Defence.

That wasn't going to happen. Remus had already read the textbook, now he was going to read it again, and again, until he knew it inside out and back to front. He wasn't going to let the Professor get the better of him, and he certainly wasn't going to fail a subject he knew he could enjoy.

During dinner the topic of conversation was, unsurprisingly, Defence Against the Dark Arts and Professor Praeiudico. Sam made a good point in wondering how Muggle-borns were supposed to learn about dark creatures from an early age. Remus stayed quiet for most of the time, pushing peas around his plate and poking at his steak. He knew that it was best to eat a lot nearing the full moon, but he was a little preoccupied.

Romulus came over sometime between the poking of the steak and the pushing of the peas and sat down sideways next to Remus.

'Hey,' he said quietly.

'Hey,' Remus replied. Romulus put his arms around Remus and leaned in to whisper in his ear.

'I heard what happened today in Defence. Did he really ask you about a werewolf in human form?'

'Yeah. He went through the role and asked me a "random question" that turned out to be not so random. He knows, and he doesn't want me here.'

'Well, _I_ want you here, and I know. Don't let him get you down. Just do the work, and you'll be fine. Besides, the Defence job is cursed; I haven't had a teacher for more than a year during the five years I've been here. So hopefully he won't be here for too long.'

Remus grinned as a thought struck him. 'Everyone's calling him "Professor Prat".'

'Don't let him hear you say that!' Romulus laughed. 'How was the rest of your day?' he unwrapped his arms, picked a carrot off Remus' plate and popped it into his mouth.

'Fine. Transfiguration was good. I managed to turn my match into a needle.'

'Well done!' he replied, playfully punching Remus' arm.

'Thanks. James managed to transfigure some cotton to go with the needle as well. He was the one that changed the Sorting Hat,' Remus added.

'Pfft, so he learnt stuff before he got here, he won't have much more of a head start. What have you got tomorrow?'

'History of Magic and Charms. Then Herbology and Potions on Monday, which obviously I won't be able to go to on account of our Great Aunt's funeral. Which you're not going to.'

'Yeah, you know, she and I were never close.' He shared a small smile with Remus then turned to face the rest of the Gryffindors. 'So, you've got Binns and Flitwick tomorrow eh?' he spoke like he was an old professional, imparting his wisdom. 'Well, Binns actually died seven years ago. Didn't even notice apparently. Got up from has chair and left his body behind. History of Magic is quite interesting, but Binns does drone on a bit, take a lot of notes and try not to fall asleep.'

'Fall asleep?' James asked incredulously. 'Is that seriously going to be an issue?'

'Some people have a better attention span than others,' Romulus replied. 'His voice seems to make people sleepy for some reason. Anyway, Flitwick is head of Ravenclaw, so he's _obviously _brilliant. He's really kind, and has a good sense of humour, and he likes people who try their hardest. You'll really like him; so _don't_ take advantage of his good nature. Okay?'

The Gryffindors nodded.

'All right then, I think my work here is done. Have a good day tomorrow, and since you get the end of the day off, I suggest you go down and visit Hagrid, the gamekeeper. He's a great bloke, and he loves Gryffindors, so you should get on well with him.' He went to get up and stopped halfway. 'Don't forget to tell them about Great Aunt Muriel, Remus,' he added, before kissing the top of his head and walking off back to the Ravenclaw table.

'Great Aunt Muriel?' Peter asked.

'Yeah, I have to go to her funeral on Sunday,' Remus said quietly. 'I won't be back until Monday night because it's in France.'

The Gryffindors offered condolences to Remus, and he suddenly felt even guiltier than he had been. These people were genuinely sorry that his nonexistent Great Aunt, who apparently was now called Muriel, had died.

'I only met her twice,' Remus added.

'Do you want me to take notes for you?' Lily asked gently.

'Um, yeah, that would be good, thanks, Lily.'

'That's fine. I know you'd do the same.'

For the rest of dinner, Remus stayed quiet again before excusing himself early to sneak off and meet the Matron. After asking a mousy haired Slytherin prefect the way to the Infirmary, he took her directions and walked through the doors to the Hospital Wing. There were a large amount of beds in the room, covered in white sheets, and one had white curtains surrounding it, obscuring the person behind from view.

A woman bustled through the curtain, placed a bottle of some foul looking potion on the table beside the bed and bustled over where Remus was standing.

'Come and sit on the bed dear,' she said before Remus could say a word. Pushing him to a bed, she placed her hand on his forehead and tutted. 'You do have a slight temperature, any dizziness at all? Nausea? Embarrassing boils? Open.' Remus opened his mouth and the Matron placed a wooden stick in his mouth. 'Say 'Ahh'.'

'Ahh,' Remus said, and she removed the stick.

'Throat isn't swollen. You appear to be in good health, so what seems to be the problem?'

'Er, I don't actually have a problem right now. I'm Remus Lupin… I just thought I should come and meet you before Sunday night.'

'Oh! Mr. Lupin, of course, I should have known, you look too much like your brother not to be. I'm Madam Pomfrey. I assume you know how things are going to happen on Sunday?

Remus nodded.

'You will come here an hour before sunset and I will escort you to the Whomping Willow. For this first time I will take you to the abandoned shack at the end of the tunnel, to make sure that you know where to go. After that, hopefully I'll just drop you off at the Willow. Does that sound agreeable?'

'Yes, that sounds fine. I should probably tell you that I will probably be knocked about a bit more than normal,' Remus said uncomfortably. 'New place and all.'

She smiled sadly. 'I understand Mr. Lupin. I assure that you'll be in good hands with me. You should be back on your feet by Monday night.'

Remus left Madam Pomfrey a little while later and walked to the Gryffindor Tower, thinking over the day's events. After dodging a hyperactive Sirius and James in the common room, who seemed to be talking about tap dancing aardvarks, he went to his bed, got out his Defence textbook and began reading it for the second time that week. He eventually drifted off to sleep with the book on his lap, and had a very disturbing dream.

Professor Praeiudico tapped Remus on the head in class and he turned into a werewolf. Elizabeth and Sirius started pointing at him and laughing, before he bounded over to them and they joined, turning into a giant Professor Praeiudico, who smiled unnaturally before killing him with a silver needle.

* * *

Please Read & Review 

Next Chapter: **Chapter V: The Keeper of the Keys**  
The boys meet Hagrid, and witness his amazing culinary skills, first-hand. We learn an interesting fact and "Professor Prat" and Remus has his first transformation in the soon-to-be-known Shrieking Shack.

Peace,  
Rotae


	5. Chapter 5

**Chapter V: The Keeper of the Keys**

They were fifteen minutes into their first History of Magic lesson, when the Gryffindors realised that Romulus had been right about Professor Binns. His lecture could have been sold to Beds and Bedknobs, and used to cure insomniacs.

More than once, Remus had to poke Peter in the arm because he was snoring so loudly. James and Sirius were taking absolutely no notice of the Professor and were both scribbling on a piece of parchment. All of the girls seemed to be paying attention, but Elizabeth's head drooped on occasion. This was in severe contrast to Holly, who was hanging on Professor Binns' every word and writing furiously on her parchment.

Dee had decided to sit next to Josh Huneycutt and Kevin Dunstable, and from what Remus could hear, they were arguing about Quidditch and who would win the league, though none of them seemed able to agree.

Remus was taking Romulus' advice and trying to take as many notes as possible, but on occasion he felt his mind wander, in particular to Defence Against the Dark Arts. He was sure that Professor Praeiudico was going to do something to him during their next lesson on Tuesday. It would be just the sort of thing he would do, especially only one night after the full moon.

Before he knew it though, it was the end of History of Magic and the Gryffindors hurried to Charms. The Slytherins caught up with them as they rounded the corner to the Charms classroom.

'Remus!' Medusa Parkinson exclaimed, as she snaked her arm around his, and led him away from the others. 'I haven't seen you in _ages_.'

'You saw me on Wednesday,' Remus pointed out as he tried to avoid the look Elizabeth was giving him.

'Yes, but not _yesterday_.'

'Oh, yes, I suppose that's right.' As they entered the classroom, Remus felt himself being pulled in the opposite direction of the Gryffindors. 'I-I was going to sit with Peter,' he added.

'Oh, I'm sure he'll find someone else to sit with. You have every class with him; you only have two with _me_."

Remus gave Peter an apologetic shrug when Medusa pulled him down to sit next to her. He also pretended to ignore James and Sirius' questioning looks, and turned to face the front, where a tiny man, he assumed to be Professor Flitwick, was standing on a pile of books.

'Welcome, students, to Charms! Charms can be very useful allies in everyday life. If you're feeling a bit down, you can always perform a Cheering Charm on yourself, or if you're in a rush to pack for the Christmas holidays, you can always use a Packing Charm. This subject can be very exciting and fun if you do the work. Now, when I call out your name, please give me a sign that you're here. Very well, Amanda Applebee?'

For the most part, Charms continued quite uneventfully, until Daisy Oliver managed to set part of Severus Snape's cloak on fire, much to the amusement of the rest of the class. Remus felt a bit sorry for the poor chap, as he obviously didn't see what was so funny and didn't look the happiest of fellows to begin with. Sallow skinned and hook-nosed, he gave off the air of a pot-plant that had been left in the dark. His hair hung in locks around his face, and his black eyes rarely left the piece of parchment he was writing on. And while James and Sirius had pushed two desks together so that Peter could sit with them, Snape was sitting alone, with a space between himself and the next desk.

'Why isn't anyone sitting with Severus?' Remus asked Medusa quietly.

'Because he's a berk,' Medusa replied silkily, not taking her eyes off the sentence she was writing. 'Or to be more accurate, he's a greasy little slimeballed, toffee-nosed, pig swilling berk. But 'berk' works just as well.'

'Oh.' Remus didn't really know how to respond, so he decided it was better not to at all.

When they left Charms, Remus said goodbye to Medusa and walked over to the other Gryffindors. Elizabeth and Sam pushed past him without saying a word and continued out of the classroom. The other girls left soon after them with Dee, who was going back to meet with Kevin and Josh, which left Remus alone with Sirius, James and Peter.

'Why'd you sit with _her_?' Sirius asked questioningly.

'I didn't have much of a choice, to be perfectly honest with you,' Remus replied jerkily, and they moved out of the classroom and back towards the Great Hall for lunch. After getting into an argument over which Beatle they would have been, Sirius and James sat down next to Kevin at the Gryffindor table, and became engaged in yet another argument over Quidditch.

Remus looked down the table, and saw Elizabeth in a hurried discussion with Sam; she paused and looked up at him, a scowl marring her face. Remus decided to lighten the mood a little.

'Why don't we go down to Hagrid's after lunch?' he suggested to the rest of the table. 'Go and explore the grounds a bit?'

'Sounds great to me!' exclaimed Peter.

'It doesn't just sound great, Peter,' James added. 'It's _brill-i-ant_. Say it with me Sirius!'

'_Brill-i-ant_!' they cried in unison, and then fell about laughing.

'Kevin, Josh and I are going down to the greenhouse, to investigate this weird plant they saw on the way to History of Magic,' Dee said excitedly. 'So maybe another time, yeah?' He stood up with Kevin and Josh and said goodbye, before retreating with a cheese sandwich in hand.

'We're going to the library,' Sam said, and the girls all stood up and walked out. Lily was the only one who lingered slightly, giving Remus a small smile and a wave before quickly retreating, leaving the boys to ponder as to why the sudden hostility.

'And then there were four,' commented Peter dryly.

'The Fab Four,' Sirius added.

'I bags being Paul!' yelled James.

'I'm John!'

'I can't believe you know about the Beatles,' Peter commented. 'You don't know about The Rolling Stones or anyone like that…'

'The Beatles?' Sirius asked incredulously. 'Of _course _we know who The Beatles are! The Beatles were the first wizarding band to cross over to a Muggle audience. That's why they were so popular. They were the band that got wizards interested in Muggle music. They're famous for it.'

'I heard, that they're really good friends with Professor Dumbledore,' James added, looking impressed and waving a ham sandwich around.

'So, if you're Paul, and Sirius is John, then who are Remus and I?' Peter asked eagerly.

'Well, who do you _want_ to be, Peter?'

'Uh… I really like Ringo. He used to live near me.'

'Well then, Ringo you shall be!' Sirius exclaimed dramatically. 'I dub thee, Ringo Starr, member of the Hogwarts Fab Four… Volume Two!'

'Just as well,' James added, 'because Remus is just so obviously George Harrison.'

Sirius let out a bark of laughter and considered Remus. 'He is, rather, isn't he?'

Remus smiled, but was confused. He was sure that The Beatles had gone to Muggle schools. Shaking his head, he turned back to his lunch.

After they were fed and watered, Remus took Romulus' map out of his pocket, and had a look as to where Hagrid's Hut was. He discovered the scribble and label near the edge of the forbidden forest. The four of them walked out, and across the sloping grounds, where they saw a large hut, with a gigantic pair of galoshes outside the door. They looked up at the huge door; it was at least twelve feet tall, and five wide. After a hurried argument, it was decided that James should be the one to knock on the door.

'Maybe he's not in,' said Peter nervously, and turned to leave. 'Let's go.'

'Don't be such a wuss, Peter,' Sirius snapped, and grabbed the back of Peter's cloak, though as he did so, he, gave a rather nervous look too.

It appeared that Hagrid wasn't at home. James knocked once more, but after waiting for a few moments, there was no response. The four boys had turned to walk back up towards the castle, when they heard a loud voice boom from the forest.

'Yer lookin' for me?'

They spun around to see Hagrid walking out of the forest, tugging a large rope behind him. He appeared to be leading some sort of animal, and when Remus saw a flash of white, he realised what it was: a unicorn.

'Wow,' gasped James, as the pure white unicorn came cantering out of the forest behind Hagrid. 'Er – yeah, we were,' he added more loudly, as though just remembering he was supposed to answer.

'Yer'll be the new Gryffindors then? Lupin told me yer'd be comin'. I'll jus' be a sec, gotta tie up this one, 'fore I entertain. Go inside an make yerselves at home.'

The Gryffindors nodded and walked back up to the door. Peter turned around to watch Hagrid walk away, before helping open the door.

'Do you think we should have helped him?' he asked.

'No,' Remus replied. 'Unicorns aren't that keen on boys. I'm surprised that Hagrid managed to get one at all…' he didn't want to add that as a werewolf, unicorns couldn't bear to be within fifty metres of him.

The boys looked around Hagrid's hut. There was only one room inside. Hams and pheasants were hanging from the ceiling and in the corner stood a massive bed with a patchwork quilt over it. They had to heave themselves up onto the chairs, and when they finally got settled, their feet barely reached the end. After a few minutes of them looking around the room, Hagrid opened the door and came in.

'Right, now tha's done. Anyone for some toffee?' he had crossed the room and picked up a large tin. He opened it up and held it up to Sirius.

'Uh, thanks,' Sirius said, looking at the toffee dubiously, before picking it up and popping it into his mouth. Hagrid proceeded to offer it to James, and Peter, and finally stopped in front of Remus.

'Ah, now yer'll be Remus, tha' right?' he asked, smiling down at Remus. Remus took the smallest piece of toffee left.

'Yes. Thank you for the toffee.'

'Yer welcome. Yer brother's told me a lot about yeh,' he added, quite indiscreetly winking at Remus. He put the tin back down on a table, and sat down in a large armchair. 'So, what are yer names then?'

Sirius, James and Peter had frowns upon their faces. They were looking at each other with their faces a mixture between frustration and worry. Remus was wondering what was going on, until he put Hagrid's toffee in his mouth and tried to chew. It felt as though someone had clamped his mouth shut with a particularly strong set of braces. Now he understood why the others all had frowns on their faces; they were rapidly trying to get their jaws unstuck from the ruthless toffee.

Hagrid also had a frown on his face, though he hadn't eaten any toffee. Apparently, he didn't know what was going on.

'Wha's wrong?'

Sirius pointed to his jaw, and James, Peter and Remus all followed suit.

'Oh!' exclaimed Hagrid, it finally dawning on him. 'Sorry 'bout that. I like it chewy.' He picked up a large, pink umbrella from beside his chair and pointed it at Sirius' mouth, before doing the same to James, Peter and Remus.

Remus felt the toffee inside his mouth become less hard, as though it was melting. He chewed a bit more, and it became the consistency of bubblegum. The same appeared to happen to the others, because before too long, James was talking rapidly to Hagrid.

'I'm James Potter,' he said. 'This is Sirius Black and Peter Pettigrew. And you already seem to know Remus.'

'Yeh, tha's right. Well, yer already know me. So, how're you enjoying Hogwarts so far then, eh?'

James then proceeded to tell Hagrid, in detail, of the events that had happened since their arrival.

Hagrid asked Sirius and James about their detention that was set for that night, and was surprised to find that they were actually looking forward to it. And, inevitably, the conversation turned to the topic that people had been talking about since their first day; Defence.

'And then he made us take a test! On our _first day_, of all days,' James finished with relish. 'We've started calling him "Professor Prat",' he added, and he and Sirius started sniggering into their hands. Peter looked uncomfortably at Hagrid, as though he wasn't sure whether or not they should be telling a member of the staff something that could give them detention. Remus was inclined to agree with him. Romulus had told him that Hagrid was a good bloke, but it remained to be seen just how far Hagrid could be pushed before having to inform a Professor. But to Remus' great surprise Hagrid chuckled.

'Yeah, I don' like him that much either,' he replied. 'I remember him when he was at school 'ere. Right snarky little kid. Never met a Hufflepuff like him since.'

'He was a _Hufflepuff_? Peter asked incredulously. 'I thought Hufflepuffs were meant to be _nice_.'

'Yeah, there's always an exception to the rule though, 'aint there?'

'He's a classic example of "When Hufflepuffs Go Bad",' said James, and he and Sirius both burst into fits of giggles, followed shortly by Hagrid and Peter.

Remus smiled. He was very comfortable sitting in the over large chair, with good company, good conversation (as they had skimmed over Professor Praeiudico's question of him), and, well, food that was now edible.

'Why did Professor Dumbledore hire him?' Sirius asked.

'Well, he's qualified, 'aint he? Don't matter whether people like him or not, does it? Jus' matters tha' he teaches 'em properly. How to defend themselves, an' that.'

'I'm not so sure whether it's dark wizards and witches we should be learning to defend ourselves against. Not with the likes of Professor Praeiudico roaming the hallways,' Remus said gloomily, to which James and Sirius both burst out laughing.

Remus was glad that they found this statement amusing. He, however, had never been more serious.

The next morning, Remus went to the library, to look up everything he could find on defences. He was rapidly becoming obsessed with finding every possible way of surviving Professor Praeiudico's classes. Deep down, he knew he was overreacting, but he was still looking, just to be on the safe side.

He ran through everything, from basic defensive spells, through to Protection Potions, and even to Occlumency, which seemed a bit too far out of his league. Still, it was an interesting prospect. Legilimency and Occlumency seemed like something to look into in the coming years. He wondered idly whether his father should be told about Legilimency, as Faustulus Lupin was often saying that he had no idea what his wife was thinking. Remus often didn't know what he was talking about. His mother usually seemed like an open book to him.

Remus looked at his watch, when his stomach started rumbling around twelve, and decided that a lunch break was in order. He really did have to eat something substantial today, as the full moon was the following night. If dread could have filled his stomach the way food did, he wouldn't have gone hungry. But, as it was, he headed down to the Great Hall, and sat down next to Sirius, before starting to make himself a lamb sandwich. He spread on the fruit chutney, and put on pickled onions, cheese, and finally the lamb itself, when he noticed that Elizabeth, who was sitting opposite him, was looking at him pointedly.

'Hello,' Remus said to her. Perhaps she had gotten over whatever it was she was upset about the day before.

'Afternoon,' she replied, and smiled.

Remus let out the breath he hadn't realised he was holding. 'How was your morning?'

'Fantastic. I just got up.'

'You just got up,' Remus repeated.

'Yeah. I love sleeping in, don't you?'

'I, uh, I don't usually. But, when I do fall asleep, I'm out like a light.'

Elizabeth laughed. 'Join the club. Listen, about yesterday,' she continued, idiosyncratically tapping her bright green fingernails on the table, 'I'm sorry I was upset with you. It's just that I don't like Parkinson, and it irked me to see you sitting next to her. When I saw you sitting with her, I had _Mars the Bringer of War_ from the _Planet Suite_ stuck in my head.'

'I really didn't do it to spite you. Medusa just wanted to sit with me, and she didn't give me much of a choice, anyway.'

'Yeah, we just don't get on, and both of us don't share very well.'

'Share?'

'Yeah, never have done. As children it was lollies, then it developed into dolls and books, and now, apparently, it's friends.'

'Well, I promise to share myself equally,' Remus replied, and smiled at her, to let her know that he was joking.

'So, Remus,' James said loudly, 'you looking forward to flying lessons?'

'Flying lessons?' Remus asked and took a bite to eat. If James was talking about flying, then he'd be able to eat almost constantly for the next ten minutes without having to talk.

'Yeah, there was a notice pinned up in the common room. Flying lessons start on Thursday. Personally, I don't think I need flying lessons. After all, one of my first presents as a child was a racing broom. Mum went spare, but Dad didn't listen to her. He said that his son was going to learn about Quidditch from an early age, and that he wanted to see me play for the Chudley Cannons by the time I was seventeen. Of course, my Dad has no taste in Quidditch Teams. He should have said the Wimborne Wasps, obviously. So, I think that some people shouldn't have to go to these silly little lessons, when they don't need them. On the other hand, I suppose I could help the teacher with the other students. You know, help with the really hopeless ones.'

'Yes,' Remus replied after swallowing, completely forgetting what the question had been. 'Er – what did you ask me?'

'If you were looking forward to flying lessons.'

'Oh, not really, I suppose. I think I'll be one of the people you'll have to help. I'll probably make a complete idiot of myself.'

'I'm sure you'll be fine.'

Sirius, who had managed to roll his eyes several times during James' rant, then went on to say that he had never even been allowed near a broom, because his overbearing mother didn't want any son of hers to fall off and embarrass the family name. And that even if he did somehow manage to convince her, she would have insisted that he wear the full Black family woollen robes at all times, which was a garish prospect even in its infancy. But, now that he was at Hogwarts, where the school brooms could be used, he was going to fly as much as possible so as to annoy his mother even more.

Sirius' explanation conjured up a group discussion, and everyone had his or her stories about flying. Sam and Lily were both excited at the prospect, especially Sam, who loved sports, and was fascinated by Quidditch.

Diana and Holly had both been flying before, and followed the League, but had no interest in actually flying themselves.

Elizabeth had been flying since she was little, and when her family went on holidays, she used to play in the Under 12's Winter Roster in Australia as a beater.

Peter hadn't been flying either, but said he'd had very bad experiences on bicycles. When he was four, his cousin had pulled him onto the back of his bike, taken off at an alarming pace, and swerved to avoid an oncoming lorry, crashing into a bush-strewn wall, breaking his own leg. The incident also caused Peter to have a twig removed from his ear. The second was so bad that Peter couldn't actually talk about it, for fear of having a nervous relapse.

Sunday came far too soon for Remus' liking, and the afternoon seemed to fly by in the blink of an eye. Before he knew it, he was saying goodbye to the other Gryffindors and making his way down to the Hospital Wing, with his overnight bag under his arm.

He was so deep in thought that as he rounded the last corner, he got the fright of his life, when Romulus stepped in front of him.

'My God, Romulus!' he exclaimed. 'I almost jumped out of my skin!'

Romulus grinned. 'I thought that you were meant to be able to sense people.'

'I can, but my mind was on other things.'

'Fair enough.' He knelt down in front of Remus. 'I just wanted to have a talk with you before you go, okay?'

Remus nodded.

'Okay, so, I just want you to know that I'll be there when you wake up. Madam Pomfrey said that she would keep you sedated until the end of classes, so that your body can heal. So, I'll come straight down after Transfiguration, okay?'

'Okay. I don't want to keep you from anything though…'

'Don't be stupid, Remus. You're the most important thing in this school to me. Of course I'll be here for you. Besides, I'll bring my homework with me, so that I can get that done until you wake up.'

'Sounds good to me,' Remus replied. He looked down at his feet, wondering whether he should tell Romulus how he was feeling.

'You okay?' Romulus asked, and leaned in to catch Remus' eye.

'Yeah, fine. Well – actually – no. Not really. I – I'm scared.'

'Look, Remus.' Romulus shifted uncomfortably on his knees. 'I'm not going to sugar coat it for you. You're probably going to be a bit worse off than usual, but Madam Pomfrey is one of the best Matrons you could possibly hope for. And, if you're not happy with her, we can always owl Dad, and he can come and help.'

Remus nodded numbly.

Romulus considered him for a moment, then stood up and pulled Remus into a sweeping hug, picking him up off the ground as he did so. He started planting kisses over Remus' face, who tried to squirm out of his grip, laughing at his older brother.

'Romulus – stop it! Gah! Stop being a prat! Ha!'

'There. Feel better now?'

'Yes. I'm more scared of _you_!'

Romulus laughed and put his brother down. 'All right. You ready to go in?'

'Yeah. Let's go.'

The brothers walked into the Hospital Wing and found Madam Pomfrey sitting in her office, engrossed in a book called, _Lady Lucia and her Lover, the Luscious Lionel. _

'Madam Pomfrey?' Romulus inquired, after he and Remus had been standing there a few moments, with no visible acknowledgment from the matron.

'Hmmm?' she asked distractedly and turned a page.

'Uh, Remus is here…'

The matron's eyes quickly darted up towards the two.

'Oh, my! Is it that time already? Well now, right, yes, well then, off we go.' She looked a little flustered, in Remus' opinion, he could see the colour rush to her cheeks.

But before he knew it, he was saying goodbye to his brother, and walking down with Madam Pomfrey toward the Whomping Willow. Madam Pomfrey waved her wand at the willow, and a jet of light hit a small knot in the trunk of the Willow, making the limbs of the waving tree still.

Madam Pomfrey walked up to the trunk of the tree and pointed to a gap in the trunk.

'This is the head of the passageway. You have to slide down it. I'll show you.' She put her feet in the hole, pushed off with her arms, and slid down a passageway feet first. Remus followed soon after, and came to a small tunnel. Ahead, he saw Madam Pomfrey, she said, 'Follow me,' and she started up the tunnel. Remus had to bend to fit down it, and the matron was fully doubled over. And then the tunnel began to rise; moments later it twisted and they came to a patch of light, which turned out to be a door. Madam Pomfrey lead him to a room, showed him a cabinet where he could place his clothes and wand and how it would magically seal itself after being closed. And before he knew it, Remus was standing alone in a large shack, the door magically sealed from the outside.

He checked his watch, then walked over to the cabinet. Inside, he placed his watch, after he had undressed, his clothes, and finally, after some hesitation, his wand, before closing the door. The outline of the door lit up for a moment, before returning to its original state.

Standing naked in the middle of the dusty room, all he could do was wait, for the full moon to take its course.

Now that he was there, the minutes seemed to drag by. He knew he had little more than twelve minutes left, but time seemed to have come to a stand still. Remus looked around a bit more and realised he'd been taken to a room with no furniture in it, save for the cabinet. Probably for his own safety. But he vaguely remembered coming through rooms with chairs in them. For some reason he felt slightly irritated. Why had they left furniture in here at all? It wasn't like it would serve any purpose other than to be smashed. Or maybe that was the purpose. So that he wouldn't take his actions out on himself as much. But, if that were the case, then why put him in a room with _no_ furniture?

The more he thought about it, the more agitated Remus became. He started to pace backwards and forwards.

After realising what he was doing, Remus came to a standstill and let out a deep breath.

_Calm down, Remus_, he thought to himself. _You're not doing any good getting yourself worked up_.

He looked towards the windows, but found them to be boarded up. Remus wasn't surprised. He rather wondered why he'd expected them not to be. He walked over to a window and ran his finger along one of the boards. There was a slight gap. He poked his little finger through and felt a cold stab of pain move right up his arm. Gasping, and immediately drawing his finger into his mouth, Remus realised that this must have been one of the protection spells that had been cast on the house.

He had to admit, it was pretty deterring.

A few minutes later, an unbearable pain racked his body. He doubled over, before falling to the floor, screaming in agony as he felt his bones breaking and changing shape.

He wished for the pain to stop, praying to God that it would all be over soon; that he would blackout. He tried to accept the pain, not fight it, but the side of himself that he kept hidden from so many people wanted to be let out. It was angry. Angrier than Remus had ever remembered. He felt tendrils of himself slipping away through his fingers, like sand, as new thoughts entered his brain; new emotions. Anger. Hate. Hunger.

* * *

Please Read & Review 

Next Chapter: **Chapter VI: Duelling For Beginners  
**Remus recovers from his transformation, we have our first proper encounter with one Severus Snape of Slytherin and we have another lesson with Professor Praeiudico...

Peace,  
Rotae


	6. Chapter 6

_A.N. Sorry this is sooooooo late. It might have a few errors in it, but damn it, you'll just have to deal with it. So, this is a bit different to my original outline as stated in the previous chapter, but things changed. This chapter is dedicated to the lovely Amber over at dA who I am sending lots of love to. And NOT to Annie, because she went to a Pink concert and is an evil, evil person. Enjoy!_

* * *

**Chapter VI: Duelling For Beginners**

_Cake. Balloons. Fireworks. Music. Piñatas. Friends._

_Remus was sitting at a table in his backyard, eating swirling colours from a bowl. He spooned some colours into his mouth; it was cold. Ice cream. He looked around. His mother and father were slow dancing on the patio, his brother, was playing a game with his friends. The sun was setting. Pink. It was warm, the middle of summer. _

_Remus looked back to his brother. He wanted to play too. He jumped off the chair and wandered over. Romulus was up. _

'_What's the time Mr. Wolf?' chanted his friends. _

'_Two o'clock,' Romulus replied, with his back towards everyone. His voice was different, rasping, and lower than usual. Remus ran to be in line with the rest of the friends as everyone took two steps towards Romulus. _

'_What's the time Mr. Wolf?'_

'_Four o'clock.'_

_One, two, three, four. Romulus looked taller too. Bigger. _

'_What's the time Mr. Wolf?' _

'_Five o'clock.'_

_They were close to the finish. Only a few feet away. There was a strange smell in the air. Dirt, sweat and… a metallic smell…_

'_What's the time Mr. Wolf?'_

_Romulus turned. _

_Yellow eyes, sharp teeth, claws, matted hair and whiskers._

'_Dinner time.'_

_Remus screamed. _

_He turned and ran to his parents, who broke apart from their slow dancing. _

'_Remuz! What iz wrong?' His mother and father bent down to speak to him. His father pulled him into a hug. _

'_It- it's Romulus… he – he's not – he's scary.' He held onto the top of his father's jumper. He didn't want to look back. But he was safe now. His parents were here. _

'_Romuluz! Come over 'ere.' Remus could hear his brother stomping over. 'What did you do to Remuz?'_

'_I didn't do anything! He shouldn't have joined in. He always ruins everything anyway! Shouldn't he be in bed, or something?'_

'_Romulus!' his father said disbelievingly._

_Remus broke contact with his father and turned towards his brother._

'_I don't ruin everything! Your games are stupid anyway. I don't even want you here! I'll be glad when you've gone off to school, so I won't have to see you anymore!'_

_Anger. He ran. Ran down the garden path and towards his hidden cubby in the woods. He stopped on the edge of the forest._

'_Romulus, go and apologise to him. _Now_.' His father. 'And bring him back, it's getting dark.'_

_Remus ran into the woods. Left, right, down four trees, over the stream and ten strides left. His fort. His brother's before him. Solitude. He only had a few minutes. His brother would find him soon. He looked upwards. The sky was almost black, and stars had started to struggle through the thick shroud of darkness. _

'_Look, Remus-'_

_Remus jumped up. He hadn't even heard his brother approach._

'_Go away, Romulus!'_

'_Look- I didn't-'_

'_I don't want to talk to you!' Running again. Further into the woods. Away. Just… away._

'_Remus! I'm sorry!' Romulus ran after him. He caught up. 'I didn't mean it, it's just-'_

'_I DON'T WANT TO TALK TO YOU!' Remus screamed. 'You don't care! You're just leaving! You just want to go off and leave me here all alone! You don't care about me at all!'_

'_Remus- I don't-'_

_Don't want to listen. Run. _

_This time, Remus was quicker. Further into the forest. Away from him. _

_He doesn't care. He doesn't care. He doesn't care._

_Stop. Lost him. _

_Lost himself._

_Merde. _

_Remus looked around. It was dark, and what he could see he didn't recognise. _

Snap.

'_Romulus?'_

'It's okay, Remus. I'm here. I'm here.'

'Romulus?' Remus could vaguely hear his own voice desperately searching for an answer.

'I'm here. It's okay. It's over.'

Everything was a little hazy. Remus could vaguely hear ragged breathing, and realised he was the one making the noise. He took a breath and slowly exhaled, then cautiously opened his eyes. He was surrounded by white. It was everywhere: in front of him, on top of him, he was even wearing it. Remus moved his right hand in front of him, half-heartedly expecting it to be white too.

It was; covered in a thick, white bandage. He let out a quiet, 'Ha,' and then winced slightly. He had an ache in his chest which felt a mile long.

'Welcome back,' said a familiar voice.

Remus turned his head slightly to his left, and noticed his brother. He was sitting behind a small desk, his left hand holding a quill, his right holding Remus', which was also covered in a thick, white bandage.

'Hi,' Remus rasped. His voice almost didn't make it out of his mouth.

Romulus put his quill down, moved the desk aside, and turned his chair to face Remus. He put his elbows on the side of the bed, and clasped his hands around Remus' bandaged one.

'You know how people say, "You're your own worst enemy"?' Remus nodded slightly. 'Well, you really are.'

Remus nodded again, this time a bit harder.

Romulus smiled. 'I have your clothes and your wand here,' he indicated to Remus' overnight bag by his leg. 'Madam Pomfrey says that you aren't as bad as she thought you were going to be. I don't know what she was expecting. For you to be just a head, I suppose.'

Remus went to a very funny place visually, gave a laugh, and winced.

'Sorry,' Romulus said hastily. 'How not to make you laugh…' He pondered for a moment. 'I know! I'll tell you a joke.'

Remus looked at Romulus, silently pleading with him not to tell one of his famously bad jokes.

'Oh, I know!' Romulus exclaimed, a devious look on his face. 'Why are werewolves better than vampires?'

Remus shook his head.

'Werewolves don't have a problem with steaks!' Romulus gave a whoop of laughter and then cackled in a way that was rather inappropriate for a prefect.

Remus let out a groan. Whether it was because the joke was so incredibly bad, or because he actually had laughed, and was in more pain, he couldn't tell.

'I'm already in enough pain without you making your horrendous jokes!' Remus managed get out, though his throat disapproved.

'My jokes are not horrendous! They are the epitome of Ravenclaw cleverness. Cutting, slick and so smart you could whack two slices of bread either side of them, and call it a brain sandwich!'

Remus laughed again and winced, he instinctively brought his hand up to put pressure on the pain, but this only made it worse, sending him into a coughing fit. Romulus stood up and put his arm around Remus, and hit him lightly on his back; the coughing eased.

Remus looked over at his brother. He had an all too familiar look on his face. One that Remus had seen once a month every holidays since he was six.

'I'm sorry,' Romulus breathed.

Remus sighed and tilted his head. 'For making me laugh, or are we back to your unfounded guilt again?'

'Remus-'

'Because I really don't have the energy to get into this all over again." Remus knew he had to cut Romulus off. He knew exactly where this argument would lead. They'd had it often enough.

'I'm sorry.' He let out a single laugh. "I'm sorry for feeling like I should be sorry.'

Remus grinned. 'Well, that's all right then.'

'I'd better get Madam Pomfrey. She asked me to tell her when you woke up. She'll probably have my guts for garters for waiting so long. I'll be back in a minute.'

Madam Pomfrey strode through the curtains, making tutting noises as Romulus was trying to apologise for not coming to see her immediately. Remus suppressed a laugh as he saw his brother roll his eyes. And then when Madam Pomfrey turned to look at Romulus and his face lit up with a dazzling smile, Remus couldn't help but laugh outright, which made him clutch his chest once more.

'Let's have a look at that,' Madam Pomfrey said in a voice that was not to be trifled with. She put a hand behind Remus' back and gently helped him sit up.

'How are you feeling?' she asked as she started to unroll the bandages around his chest. Remus suddenly realised how cold it was, and shivered. Madam Pomfrey apparently noticed, as she cast a warming charm in the middle of unwrapping.

'Thank you. Uh, I'm a little sorer than usual, I suppose. My chest hurts.'

'Yes, I'm not surprised,' Madam Pomfrey commented. She finished taking off the bandage and started to inspect a rather long, though now quite healed, set of gashes that went from the right side of his stomach, to the upper left part of his chest. 'You appear to have had rather a rough night, Mr. Lupin. On a scale of one to ten, how bad is the pain when I press here?' She gently pressed one of the lines on his chest.

'Uh, about a five.'

'Here.' She moved towards the middle of the gash.

'Ouch! Eight.'

'Here.' She pressed the tip of the gash on his right side.

'About a five again.'

'Well, that all seems to be in order then.' The Matron took some foul-smelling green ointment from a small pot in her pocket and dabbed it along the lines, before taking some new bandages and re-wrapping them around his torso. 'Now, let's have a look at those hands.'

She informed Remus that he'd broken three of his fingers during the night, but they were now mended, and got him to flex and clench his hands to make sure that everything was in working order. Once satisfied with that, she checked the rest of him, and said that she'd been giving him a pain suppressant, and that he'd need to take another dose before he left and one before he went to sleep.

'Now drink this, and I'll come back and check on you in about an hour.'

With that she bustled through the thick white curtains and, presumably, back to her office. Remus noted that when she left there was a flash of purple light that illuminated the gap between the curtains, and they snapped shut.

'What's the-'

'It's a binding spell. If you're not Madam Pomfrey it can only be opened from the inside.' Romulus smiled. 'Just a precaution, so that none of your friends walk in and see you here, when you're meant to be at Great Aunt Muriel's funeral.'

Remus laughed. 'Where'd you come up with that name, anyway?'

'I don't know,' Romulus pondered for a moment. 'I thought it was just a very Aunty-ish name. You don't want dinner, do you?'

'You know I don't…'

'I promised Mum I'd make you eat something.'

'You know I won't keep it down…'

'Oh well. I tried.' Romulus grinned. 'You can be so stubborn.'

Remus smiled. 'What's the time, by the way?'

Romulus looked at the unusual watch his parents had given him for being made a prefect. 'Six thirty-two and… eight seconds.'

Remus watched as nine of the twelve hands on Romulus' watch reappeared after Romulus took his finger off one of the buttons.

'Your new friends have been very busy today,' said Romulus, his eyes flicking back up to Remus'.

'Really? What did they do?'

'Got put on detention again. For duelling.'

'Duelling?'

'Yes. James and… Sirius, was it?' Remus nodded. 'Apparently started a duel in the middle of the corridor with two other boys from Slytherin. I saw Professor Flitwick attending to Bertram. His head was almost twice its normal size!'

'Oh no!' said Remus.

'Oh yes!'

'How did it start?'

'I don't know exactly. Although I did hear something about two of them just literally running into each other.'

'Do you know who the Slytherins were?'

'Well, I know Bertram Aubrey; he's a Slytherin Prefect. He tried to stop it, and got caught in the crossfire. The other one had black hair and was quite pale. I'm pretty sure he's a first-year.'

'It sounds like Severus Snape.'

'Snape! Yes, that was it. Anyway, Professor McGonagall gave James and Sirius detentions for later tonight. Two detentions in their first week,' Romulus shook his head. 'I think you may have fallen in with the wrong crowd already.'

'What about Severus, didn't he get detention too?'

'No. I think Bertram vouched for him. I'm pretty sure that James actually started it.'

'That's no reason to retaliate, though.'

'No, it's not. But unlike James and Sirius, he had a clean slate. And unlike James and Sirius, he had a prefect vouching for him. _And_, unlike James and Sirius, he didn't actually cause any damage.'

'Oh.'

'Not entirely fair, but that's the way things go.' Romulus shrugged and closed his Transfiguration textbook. 'I've sent a letter off to Mum and Dad, by the way,' he added after a moment. 'You know, just telling them you're okay. Not dead or disfigured or just a head or anything.'

'Thank you,' said Remus amusedly.

'Mum replied. She wants you to write to her sometime this week for an update.'

'Okay.'

Madam Pomfrey bustled back into view with a burst of purple light exactly an hour from when she'd left. She asked Remus a lot of questions about how he felt, checked his vitals, and then started inspecting his bandages.

'Excellent,' she said absentmindedly as she unwrapped his left hand. 'Excellent,' she looked up at Remus this time. 'You heal very nicely.'

'So I've been told,' Remus said, smiling. His father had said the same thing many times before.

She pointed her wand at the disguarded material, and it disappeared with a slight whipping noise. She did the same with his other hand and Remus inspected both of his hands as she checked his torso.

The wounds seemed to have completely healed. Remus thought that his father couldn't have done a better job. He looked over at Romulus and saw him smiling slightly. Apparently they were having the same thought. Romulus lent down and gave Remus the shirt that had been in his overnight bag.

'Thank you very much, Madam Pomfrey.' Remus said as he did up the buttons on his shirt. 'The pain has almost all but gone.'

'Yes, well about half of that is the pain suppressant. I expect you to take the rest of it before you go to sleep tonight,' she said in a rather formidable tone and handed him a bottle of liquid.

'Of course.'

'Well then, Mr. Lupin, if you have no more pains, I think you should be right to go and join the rest of your housemates.' She unrolled her sleeves and looked at him with a stern and piercing look. 'Just don't go duelling in the middle of the corridors over nothing like Mr. Potter and Mr. Black. If anything else, it would be detrimental to your health at this point in time.'

'Oh, I don't plan on it.'

'Yes, well, we very rarely plan to hurt ourselves. Just mind how you go. Goodnight Remus,' her gaze flicked to his brother. 'Romulus.'

Remus got dressed, and with the help of his brother, slowly eased out of the bed and walked back up to the Gryffindor tower.

When they arrived at the portrait of the Fat Lady, Romulus handed Remus his overnight bag and knelt down.

'Now, where have you been?'

'Aunt Muriel's funeral.'

'_Great_ Aunt Muriel's funeral.'

'Oh,' Remus clapped a hand to his forehead. 'Right. I should have remembered that. I've been at _Great_ Aunt Muriel's funeral.'

'And how are you related to said Great Aunt?'

Remus did some quick thinking as to how he could have a great aunt. 'Uh… she's my… Grandmother's sister?'

'Which Grandmother?'

He'd been in France. 'My… Mums?'

'Mum's French, and Muriel isn't a French name: explain.'

'But, I've been in France…'

'Which tells you?' Romulus encouraged.

'That… she married into the family?'

'Exactly. So, she's your Grandmother's sister-_in-law_, okay?'

'Yes. Great Aunt Muriel married into Mum's side of the family, when she married my Great Uncle, my Grandmother's brother.'

Romulus looked up at the ceiling for a second and seemed to be going over each of the statements Remus had said one by one, checking for any discrepancies. He threw his hands in the air.

'Excellent! I'm sure they won't even give it a second thought, but just in case.'

'Better safe that sorry.'

'Precisely!' Romulus adjusted the collar of his robes. 'Now, I'm off to the Ravenclaw Tower to do some outrageously subtle flirting with Editha and then get some sleep.'

Remus remembered what Dee had said about his sister talking about Romulus all summer. 'Are you going to ask her out?'

'Hmm… not yet I don't think. Maybe. I don't know. We'll just have to see where the wind takes us. I need to build up a bit more Gryffindor courage. After all, I am just a lowly Ravenclaw.' He grinned.

'Right…'

Romulus smiled and hugged Remus. 'I'm glad you're here, you know,' he said quietly.

'I know. I'm glad you're here, too.'

'I'll see you in the morning. Take your potion and have a good rest.' He stood up and turned to leave. 'Oh, and don't got around duelling, or I'll tell Mum.'

'Understood.'

'Goodnight, Remus.'

'Goodnight.'

Remus gave the Fat Lady the password and clambered through the portrait hole, coming face to face with Frank Longbottom.

'Lupin!' he said cheerfully. 'Good to see you! Good to see you. Your brother just dropped you off I take it? I heard about the funeral. Sorry to hear about it, mate. Potter told me you weren't that close though.' He dropped his voice and leant forwards slightly. 'If you don't mind me asking… it was a, you know, _natural_ death, wasn't it?'

Remus did some quick thinking. 'Yes,' he said. 'Why?'

'Oh, you know… bad things have been happening a bit lately. I just thought it might be connected, but, obviously not. Which is, you know, good. Well, as good as a death can be,' he added. 'Sorry.'

Remus nodded.

'So, how are things going besides that? You coping so far? I heard that Professor Prat was a bit harsh on you.'

'Oh, yeah, but I'm fine. I knew the answer anyway, so it wasn't a big deal.' Remus shrugged, and tried to make it look like he actually believed what he was saying.

'Fantastic! Okay, I'd better be off.' He clapped Remus on the shoulder as he left.

'Remus! You're back!' Sirius exclaimed the minute Remus walked in the door. He, James and Peter were sitting in the middle of the floor, playing a game of Exploding Snap. From the looks of Peter's eyebrows, he was losing. And badly at that. 'How did everything go?' Sirius asked more solemnly.

'Fine,' Remus said noncommittally. 'You know, as good as it can be.' He couldn't help but think that this was in fact not a lie. Things had gone as well as could be expected. Possibly even a little better.

'Do you want to play?' Peter asked softly.

Remus smiled slightly. 'No, but thank you for the offer.' He walked to his bed, put his overnight bag down on top of his duvet and closed the curtains so that the other boys couldn't see what he was doing. He then retuned to his bag, took out the bottle Madam Pomfrey had given him and placed it under his pillow, before putting the rest of the contents of his bag in the trunk at the end of his bed.

'Ow!' exclaimed Peter and Sirius gave a bark of laughter. 'It's not funny, Sirius! That one hurt. I've never played this before…'

'Nonsense. It builds character, right James?'

'Mmmm.'

'Oh, Remus?' Peter said, and stood up, gingerly rubbing his hand. 'Lily, I-I mean, _Evans_,' he corrected himself at the look on James' face, 'asked me to give these to you.' He walked over to his bag and took out some pieces of parchment and handed them to Remus. Remus recognised Lily's neat handwriting with the headings 'Herbology, Professor Violet Hibbingsworth' and 'Potions, Professor Horace Slughorn' underlined on different pages.

'Thank you, Peter,' Remus replied. 'I'll look over these now.'

'Oi! Remus!' Sirius exclaimed loudly before Remus could take a step. 'We haven't told you about our run in with Snape!' He was grinning rather manically.

James' brow was furrowed. Sirius looked at him, and then obviously decided to tell the tale himself.

'It was like this, okay? Me, and James and Peter were walking down the corridor to Potions, right? And then all of a sudden, Snape comes barrelling round the corner, and _shoves_ James out of the way! I mean, he just came along and' he mimed being shoved with a lot of force, 'bang! Straight into him! No provocation, nothing!'

Remus raised his eyebrows. 'Really?'

'Yep! So, James says, "What's the idea?" and Snape just gets up, and scowls and shoves past him _again_!'

'Wait. He got up? He was on the ground?' Remus asked.

'Yeah. They both fell over,' said Sirius.

'What happened then?'

'Well, obviously, we'd had enough of him, so I tried to hex him, and then _he_ tried, and it went on, and eventually Peter got hit by this really weird one that made yellow goop come out of his eyes!'

Remus looked at Peter. He nodded. 'It didn't hurt or anything.'

'But it _looked_ gross!' Sirius continued. 'And that's when the Slytherin prefect stepped in, and James accidentally hit him with a swelling spell, and his head kind of… just expanded.' He again mimed, this time bringing his hands to his head and then drew them out, making it look like his head was expanding like a balloon.

'What annoys me,' interjected James, it was the first time he'd really spoken since Remus had entered the room, 'is that Snape got off without so much as a slap on the wrist! And we got detention!'

'I thought you liked detention,' Peter said, with a puzzled expression on his face.

'Well, I mean, yes!' James spluttered slightly. But he should have got one too! I'd be fine if he'd gotten one as well. Favouritism. Bloody favouritism, that's what it is!' He frowned again and huffed. Remus was about to say something, when James went on. 'And bloody _Evans_… don't even get me started. Acting all superior, and,' he put on a girlish voice, '"Don't _Potter_! You'll lose points for Gryffindor, _Potter_! You're so childish, _Potter_!" Ergh!' he growled. 'Bloody girls! Why do we need them? And why, for the love of Merlin, are they so, bloody, arrogant?'

Remus had a fleeting thought that this may be a prime example of the pot calling the cauldron black, but refrained.

James seemed to finish his tirade, and got up.

'Come on, Sirius. Better not keep Filch waiting…'

He and Sirius exited the room. Sirius smirking, and James stamping each step, as though the floor had personally offended him.

Remus looked at Peter.

'It- it wasn't really like that,' Peter said softly.

Remus wasn't surprised. 'What actually happened?'

'Snape just came around the corner and wasn't looking where he was going, and just bumped into James. James had had an argument with Evans just before, and he was a bit off put and quite rudely said, "What's the idea?" and Snape brushed him as he went past, and all hell broke loose!' Peter cast his eyes downwards. 'It was kind of scary.'

Remus remembered that Peter was a Muggleborn, and had probably never seen a duel before. He opened his trunk, took out his own pack of cards and sat down opposite Peter, shoving the exploding cards out of the way.

'How about a game of Memory?'

Peter looked up. 'Non-exploding Memory?'

'Yeah.' Remus shuffled the cards. 'See. You have to do all the work yourself.' He smiled at Peter. Peter smiled back.

They started a game, and as time progressed a little, Remus broached the subject of wizarding duels. Peter said he was strongly reminded of Muggle guns, and that his uncle had been killed on his farm by a gunshot to the chest. Remus reassured him that there was only one actual curse that could instantly kill you, and that you'd never see it at Hogwarts, especially at the hands of first-years. Peter smiled nervously. He still didn't look convinced.

About half an hour later, he bade goodnight to Peter, saying that he'd just do some homework on his bed. This was, the truth, but he also felt extremely tired. The adrenaline of being at Hogwarts had sustained him this far today, but he wasn't sure how much longer he could hold out.

He grabbed his Herbology and Potions textbooks, walked over to his bed and got on it, organising the notes into groups and opening his books to the relevant pages. He read all the way through the Herbology notes and was halfway through the Potions when the dull ache across his chest became more of a stinging pain, and he took the rest of the potion Madam Pomfrey had given him. He went back to the notes, but eventually, he gave into sleep, and dreamed of Romulus' 11th birthday.

_Cake. Balloons. Fireworks…  
_

* * *

Please Read & Review it makes me update faster...

Next Chapter: **Chapter VII  
**We have another lesson with Professor Praeiudico and other stuff happens...

Peace,  
Rotae


End file.
